'Playing God': Entrepreneur's radical Tasmanian tiger plan could ...

For thousands of years humankind has wiped out other species to advance its own interests — think neanderthals in Europe and dodos on Mauritius. The CEO of de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences believes this equates to us “playing God” and he has no qualms about using DNA to bring back creatures we've wiped out the dead.

Ben Lamm sat down with Yahoo News this week to discuss his plans, moments after making a sensational announcement that his company was a step closer to bringing back the Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, after reconstructing a 99.9 per cent accurate genome.

“Did Australians play God in the late 1800s when they eradicated the thylacine? I would argue, yes. Do we play God when we pollute the environment, accelerate human-caused climate change, or cut down the rainforest? I would say, yes,” the Texas-born entrepreneur said from his Sydney hotel room.

What you believe about the creation of the Earth is irrelevant to Lamm's mission. What matters is that right now humans are now the apex predators of the entire planet. And our species is causing the earth’s sixth mass extinction, so Lamm believes technology must be used to “make a better future” but also “undo the sins of the past”.

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Wilfred Batty shot the last-known wild Tasmanian tiger in 1930. Source: Supplied

What species is Colossal bringing back from the dead?

Colossal has set a goal of siring a woolly mammoth calf by 2028. It’s a species whose pathway to extinction is disputed, as it’s unclear how significant a role hunting and human migration played. But the other animals on his priority list were clearly wiped out immediately after European arrival — the dodo disappeared after 60 years, and the thylacine lasted just over 130.

This theme continues with Lamm saying, “We’re not working on it, but I’d love to bring back the Stellar’s sea cow.”. The giant dugong-like creature he's referring to died out less than 30 years after fur traders and seal hunters arrived in Alaska.

But there’s another reason he’s chosen these specific species, they all played a significant role in the ecosystem and their loss has had lasting consequences. He doesn't seem as interested in bringing back the lesser-known smaller species, but he concedes we're wiping them out on a daily basis.

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How will newly created valuable thylacines be protected?

When it comes to the thylacine, Colossal has committed to collaborating with conservationists, Indigenous groups, private landholders and the government to fill Tasmania's wild places with the marsupial predator.

“We have no intention of putting the animals in zoos,” Lamm said. “Our goal is to re-wild them back into their natural habitats with enough engineered genetic diversity to actually thrive on their own without human intervention,” he said.

If thylacines are brought back from extinction, until their population is built up they will have an extraordinary value – individuals could be worth millions. While the species once lived in parts of mainland Australia, by the time of European settlement they were confined only to Tasmania, and likely only numbered around 5,000 individuals.

Lamm was unable to specifically detail how these animals would be protected from poachers and collectors, but he said a “community-based plan” will determine how it is carried out. And an ultimate measure of success would be them being considered simply another Australian animal, rather than a somewhat legendary creature that’s the subject of myth.

“Colossal can’t be the sole protector of these different species we’re working on… I’m sure they'll have to be some level of support from a protection perspective,” he said.

“Our goal, if we are successful, is not making a couple of super valuable thylacines. Our goal is to introduce enough genetically diverse thylacines in a stage-gated process back into the wild that they can not just survive but thrive again.”

The dodo was extinct within decades of European settlement, and now body parts and sketches are all that remains. Source: Getty

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Why not focus on living animals facing extinction?

Colossal has raised US $235 million outside of its US $50 million Colossal foundation nonprofit. And while the company partners with conservation groups to help endangered species, critics of its de-extinction program say the money could be better spent solely protecting surviving animals.

Over 45,300 species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List — that's 28 per cent of everything its assessed.

There’s also concern about what the process of de-extinction could degrade the concept of extinction, meaning developers and policy makers could have less of a reason to protect a species if it can be brought back.

But ever the "glass half full" sort of guy, Lamm argues being able to bring back creatures from extinction increases awareness about the environment, and in particular, sparks interest among the next generation. He labels these detractors of the concept of de-extinction "uninformed critics", even though they include several high-profile conservationists including thylacine expert Nick Mooney. It's not that he doubts their credentials in their own field, he just doesn't think they fully understand his goals.

Earlier this year Mooney said of plans to bring back the thylacine in general, "The most dangerous thing about the de-extinction program is it teaches people extinction is not forever so by default not to worry about it."

He also shared concerns about introducing an extinct species into a rapidly changing world, saying, "In 10 years, if it succeeded, Tasmania will have a million plus people, and [it] might be a very intense climate refuge. All land not used by people will have more people. And many currently sparely occupied areas will be full of people. It will be very very hard for a large carnivore naive about risks."

How will Colossal make money from de-extinction?

Lamm maintains his plans are driven by altruism, and the resulting scientific advancements made will spark new technologies that can be monetised.

Colossal argues extinction will become "a thing of the past" and its advancements will help other species, including our own. And the latter is where it plans to make its money.

Lamm compares his company to the Apollo program, which took mankind to the Moon but also resulted in the creation of over a dozen household items we all take for granted, including camera phones, LED lights, wireless headsets and memory foam.

"We've already spun two companies out of colossal. One focused on plastic degradation, which is another existential threat... we also spun out a computational biology platform worth over $100 million already, that's focusing on solving some critical issues in in in reviewing genomes and helping identify areas to improve manufacturer process for drug discoveries in human health care," Lamm said.

Its believed the tiger was photographed in 1912 at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart. Source: Harry J Burrell

Would the Colossal CEO want to live forever?

On average, humans live less than 100 years, but our history is littered with stories of individuals who have changed the world for centuries after their deaths, like Genghis Khan and Cleopatra. Long after we're all gone, the earth will be scarred with relics and ruins from ancient Rome, World War II, and of course evidence of modern humankind — billions of chicken bones, layers of concrete and trillions of pieces of plastic.

But now that technology is advancing, humans are able to prolong their lives, and possibly even increase their influence over the planet by staying around longer and evolving. But how long is too long on Earth, and with such an important mission, would Lamm want to live forever?

While the idea has occupied great men for thousands of years, when we asked Lamm on Thursday, it didn't seem to be a topic he'd considered too heavily before. But his answer was considered in real-time and adamant.

"Would I want to live forever? Why not?" he said.

"I wake up every day and I'm pretty inspired. I'm an eternal optimist... I think if you could live forever and we could TerraForm other planets and go to the stars and explore and maybe meet other civilisations, I think that's, I think that's pretty cool and magical," he said.

"What we think is innovative today is like magic of yesteryear. Think about tomorrow. Think about what the technologies 1000 years will be like from now. And so... I'm sure I'd love to live forever. Why not?"

Lamm is in Australia for SXSW from October 16 to 24.

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