How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction

According to this book, the future of Shapiro's field, "ancient DNA," lies in adapting existing species to survive in threatened environments—think of an elephant refit with the woolly mammoth's coat, relocated in the Arctic tundra. Sounds fantastic, as in unbelievable: although de-extinction was the stuff of science fiction once, advances in genome research have made it more realistic than cloning, the author argues. Many of her colleagues have tried— and failed—to bring back the bucardo, the dodo, the moa, the Lazarus frog, and the carrier pigeon, to name a few whose stories Shapiro honors simply by retelling them. This eye-opening narrative will give teens an inside look at the various facets of scientific research: discipline, ambition, imagination, disappointment, and danger. For example, in 2007 Japan, a 42,000-year-old baby mammoth—so well preserved that "her stomach still contained traces of her mother's milk"—excited researchers, who immediately named her Lyuba. But her DNA was useless, and so their endeavor was short-lived. The future, Shapiro believes, is in de-extinction, which alters existing species in the name of preservation and which, she acknowledges, carries a heavy responsibility in itself. The nonfiction work's 16 color plates and illustrations throughout add to its appeal.