Should we de-extinct the moa?

Our Changing World takes a deep dive into controversial plans by US company Colossal Biosciences, backed by filmmaker Peter Jackson, to de-extinct the Moa. In part two of a two-part series, Sharon Brettkelly looks at whether it SHOULD be done.

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LEARN MORE:

• Check out this explainer from Katie Kenny for the proposed Gene Technology changes.
• RNZ’s Monique Steel looks at who is backing the stalled Gene Technology Bill.
• Listen as Kathryn Ryan talks to Kennedy Warne about how de-extincting the moa might fit with conservation efforts.
• Ben Novak talks to RNZ’s Saturday Morning show about de-extincting the passenger pigeon.

GUESTS:

• Professor Amanda Black, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Lincoln University and Director of Bioprotection Aotearoa.
• Professor Phillip Wilcox, bioethicist and quantitative geneticist, University of Otago.
• Andrew Pask, Chief Biology Officer, Colossal Biosciences
• Associate Professor Nic Rawlence, Director of Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, University of Otago.

IN THIS EPISODE:

(00:00) Should we bring moa back?

(01:36) Colossal’s plan to bring back moa

(03:00) Who benefits from de-extinction

(07:33) Māori perspectives, consent and data sovereignty

(10:55) Could New Zealand stop the project?

(14:43) Considering all the aspects of de-extinction

(18:30) De-extinction vortex and the ethics of breeding and consultation…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details