Woolly mammoths went extinct several thousand years ago. But if a new company gets its way, something like the woolly mammoth could walk the Earth again within the decade. The company Colossal Biosciences announced in 2021 that it had raised $15m to genetically modify an Asian elephant so that it has the cold-tolerant traits of a woolly mammoth. Since then, they’ve gotten even more money and attention, from sources as varied as socialite Paris Hilton to the US Central Intelligence Agency. Their plan has been received with a mix of skepticism, excitement and controversy.

In this episode: 

• Ben Lamm (@federallamm), co-founder and CEO of Colossal (@ItIsColossal)
• Dr. Tori Herridge (@ToriHerridge), evolutionary biologist at the London Natural History Museum (@NHM_London)
• Dr. Joe Bennett (@Joe_Ecology), professor at Carleton University

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Negin Owliaei. The original production team included Negin Owliaei, Tom Fenton, Ruby Zaman, Amy Walters, Alexandra Locke, Priyanka Tilve, Ney Alvarez, Stacey Samuel, and our host, Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

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