Nate Rott

Anthony has been focused on protecting frog populations from chytrid pretty much his entire scientific career.

And he started with the type of desert frog that lived near his hometown, Las Vegas.

And Anthony says it worked for that population of frogs.

But the further he got into the frog world.

It became clear to him what they really need, he says, is like some kind of permanent solution that makes the species more resilient into the future.

And he thinks one of those solutions could be something called synthetic biology, which in this case basically means genetic modification.

Anthony wants to use genetic tools, new technologies to essentially splice that chytrid resistant DNA into frogs that do not have it.

Yes, that's kind of like the pie in the sky aim.

But here's where I think this whole thing gets super interesting.

Because, as you might imagine, Emily, the idea of genetically modifying things and then putting them out in the natural world worries a lot of people.

Okay, so probably the best answer I heard when I asked this question to many people was from Guy Reeves, a scientist who's now working with a German nonprofit.

It's just like it's kind of this catch-all term, right, for a suite of technologies like genetic modification, genetic engineering that basically allow scientists to modify or engineer living cells.

Yeah, basically.

So like think of the kinds of work that scientists do to genetically modify foods, like, you know, making crops more resistant to pesticides or like hardier to endure drought, that kind of stuff.

Totally.

Yeah.

Same exact thing.

So the problem the guy has with this kind of like know it when you see it broad definition is that it's just supporters.

It's jazz.

It's just jazz hands.