De-Extinction Nightmare Part 1: Nazi Cows (E368)

About this episode

The episode explores the disturbing history and ideology behind the de-extinction efforts of the Heck brothers in 1930s Germany.

The long history of humans bending biology for civilization eventually raised an important question: if animals can be domesticated, then couldn’t they also be de-domesticated? Further: could selective breeding allow scientists to reverse-engineer a species back from extinction and contain identical DNA to its ancestors? The first people to attempt “de-extinction” were, naturally, mad zoologists supported by Nazis. Modern attempts to leverage molecular biology to revive long-lost species provide a classic example of history rhyming. In part one of this two-part episode, Jack explores the disturbing ideology behind the de-extinction efforts of the Heck brothers in 1930s Germany, as well as their attempts to create so-called “genetically pure” species. Next week, we’ll unpack the floundering species revival program from genetic engineering startup Colossal Biosciences and why billionaires and the Trump administration are so invested in gaining the ability to make extinction less permanent than commonly believed. Subscribe for $5 a month to get all the premium episodes: www.patreon.com/qaa Check out our new podcast series network Cursed Media! Spectral Voyager Season 2 is releasing…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jack, Julian Feeld, Travis View, Jake Rockatansky, Liv Agar, Annie Kelly

Topics covered

• de-extinction
• genetic engineering
• Nazi ideology
• selective breeding
• species revival
• molecular biology

Keywords

• de-extinction
• Nazi cows
• Heck brothers
• genetic engineering
• species revival
• molecular biology
• selective breeding
• history
• zoology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Colossal Biosciences, Cursed Media

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