Robert Klitzman

You're listening to Today Explained. I'm Robert Klitzman. I'm a professor of psychiatry and director of the online and in-person Masters of Bioethics programs at Columbia University and the author of... designing babies, how technology is changing the ways we create children.

You're listening to Today Explained. I'm Robert Klitzman. I'm a professor of psychiatry and director of the online and in-person Masters of Bioethics programs at Columbia University and the author of... designing babies, how technology is changing the ways we create children.

You're listening to Today Explained. I'm Robert Klitzman. I'm a professor of psychiatry and director of the online and in-person Masters of Bioethics programs at Columbia University and the author of... designing babies, how technology is changing the ways we create children.

I think there is a lot of excitement. It's definitely cool to bring back extinct species, but there's a lot of questions we have about where these animals will live, what their lives will be like, why we're doing this, what the long-term view or vision is. And a lot of that depends on how the technology is then used and what happens.

I think there is a lot of excitement. It's definitely cool to bring back extinct species, but there's a lot of questions we have about where these animals will live, what their lives will be like, why we're doing this, what the long-term view or vision is. And a lot of that depends on how the technology is then used and what happens.

I think there is a lot of excitement. It's definitely cool to bring back extinct species, but there's a lot of questions we have about where these animals will live, what their lives will be like, why we're doing this, what the long-term view or vision is. And a lot of that depends on how the technology is then used and what happens.

Right. Right. So there's a few issues that come up. One is we're making a bunch of dogs pregnant to produce them. And I have concerns about the dire wolves. But more importantly, the company has said that its longer term plan is to produce or reproduce or to create a woolly mammoth. And with that, there are even bigger concerns because that you'd have to take elephants.

Right. Right. So there's a few issues that come up. One is we're making a bunch of dogs pregnant to produce them. And I have concerns about the dire wolves. But more importantly, the company has said that its longer term plan is to produce or reproduce or to create a woolly mammoth. And with that, there are even bigger concerns because that you'd have to take elephants.

Right. Right. So there's a few issues that come up. One is we're making a bunch of dogs pregnant to produce them. And I have concerns about the dire wolves. But more importantly, the company has said that its longer term plan is to produce or reproduce or to create a woolly mammoth. And with that, there are even bigger concerns because that you'd have to take elephants.

You'd have to get many elephants, female elephants, anesthetize them. You'd have to stick probes up their vagina to extract eggs. You'd have to then get many elephants pregnant unannounced. And hopefully some will not miscarry, some will miscarry. Then you'll have to do C-sections on the elephants to get the woolly mammoths out.

You'd have to get many elephants, female elephants, anesthetize them. You'd have to stick probes up their vagina to extract eggs. You'd have to then get many elephants pregnant unannounced. And hopefully some will not miscarry, some will miscarry. Then you'll have to do C-sections on the elephants to get the woolly mammoths out.

You'd have to get many elephants, female elephants, anesthetize them. You'd have to stick probes up their vagina to extract eggs. You'd have to then get many elephants pregnant unannounced. And hopefully some will not miscarry, some will miscarry. Then you'll have to do C-sections on the elephants to get the woolly mammoths out.

So that's going to be very cumbersome, and it's going to hurt a lot of elephants. So dire wolves, we have three of them that were created. And I should say they're not really dire wolves, they're wild. gray wolves that have had about 15 of their genes changed. So of 80 potential genes that could be changed, they've changed 15.

So that's going to be very cumbersome, and it's going to hurt a lot of elephants. So dire wolves, we have three of them that were created. And I should say they're not really dire wolves, they're wild. gray wolves that have had about 15 of their genes changed. So of 80 potential genes that could be changed, they've changed 15.

So that's going to be very cumbersome, and it's going to hurt a lot of elephants. So dire wolves, we have three of them that were created. And I should say they're not really dire wolves, they're wild. gray wolves that have had about 15 of their genes changed. So of 80 potential genes that could be changed, they've changed 15.

And when we're mucking around with nature and changing genes, mistakes get made. Genes have multiple functions that we don't always know about. So for instance, five of the genes that Colossal was going to change because they were in dire wolves but not in gray wolves, the researchers decided not to change because these genes would create deafness and blindness in the dire wolf.

And when we're mucking around with nature and changing genes, mistakes get made. Genes have multiple functions that we don't always know about. So for instance, five of the genes that Colossal was going to change because they were in dire wolves but not in gray wolves, the researchers decided not to change because these genes would create deafness and blindness in the dire wolf.

And when we're mucking around with nature and changing genes, mistakes get made. Genes have multiple functions that we don't always know about. So for instance, five of the genes that Colossal was going to change because they were in dire wolves but not in gray wolves, the researchers decided not to change because these genes would create deafness and blindness in the dire wolf.

So we don't always know when we're altering genes what the effects are going to be. Genes have multiple effects. About five years ago, Dr. He Jiankui in China genetically engineered three children. He took the embryos and he wanted to disable a gene called the CCR5 gene to prevent HIV from getting in the cells because he was going to work with HIV positive fathers.

So we don't always know when we're altering genes what the effects are going to be. Genes have multiple effects. About five years ago, Dr. He Jiankui in China genetically engineered three children. He took the embryos and he wanted to disable a gene called the CCR5 gene to prevent HIV from getting in the cells because he was going to work with HIV positive fathers.