Sci Fight Comedy Debate: De-extinction is the best

Join us at Woollahra Library at Double Bay and watch six very human scientists and comedians assess whether de-extinction does more harm than good.

Pre-history is the future! De-extinction; bringing creatures back from extinction is becoming a scientific reality. With the advent of CRISPR technology; scientists, with a sample of DNA, some genome sequencing and a strong cup of coffee may very well be able to bring animals from the past back to life.

As the Siberian permafrost thaws like a curry in the microwave biotechpreneurs wax lyrical on the climate benefits of woolly mammoths roaming the tundra. Something about them stomping down the ice to stop it thawing. Mammoths need jobs too.

By bringing back extinct species we could create technologies that could have all sorts of unforeseen benefits. Just like the space race gave us memory foam and the ear thermometer, maybe the de-extinction project will give us something even more useful; like a solution to the housing crisis, or a way to dissolve a lime scooter. Maybe.

But with plenty of animals here right now on the brink of disappearing, is zombie megafauna our number one priority? And is the world ready for these creatures to return? If we thought cane toads were annoying we’ll soon see what a mammoth can do to a golf course.

Affirmative team:

• First Speaker: Bonnie Tangey

• Second Speaker: Joe Shaffer

• Third Speaker: Laura Hughes

Negative team:

• First Speaker: Dieter Hochuli

• Second Speaker: Lee Constable

• Third Speaker: Harry Jun