CrowdScience: Can We Revive Extinct Species Like The Dodo?

‘As dead as a Dodo’ is a phrase that could soon go extinct. Forget Jurassic Park fantasies though - we’re not likely to revive dinosaurs any time soon. But thanks to modern genetic technologies, at least one species of mammal forced into extinction by human activity was very briefly brought back from the dead (a type of Mountain goat).

Birds though, have never even been successfully cloned - and Scottish listener Rachel wants to know if there are any fledgling technologies that might change this soon.

After laying eyes on the last soft Dodo tissue in existence, Marnie Chesterton meets the chickens being bred to lay the eggs of other birds, and goes to see what it takes to breed one of the Dodo’s closest living relatives in captivity.

The iconic Dodo represents humanity’s first experience of the fragility of the natural world - but can we, and should we, bring it back?

Produced by Rory Galloway for BBC World Service.

Publicity contact: EM3