The W.L. Gore & Associates Keynote Presentation: The Mammoth World of Science

The 2023 Keynote Presentation features Dr. Beth Shapiro, a pioneer and global leader in the high-profile field of ancient DNA, will share her expertise on the science of de-extinction. Dr. Shapiro is a Rhodes Scholar, Macarthur “genius” and National Geographic Explorer. She is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz, Director of the UCSC Paleogenomics Lab and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Her 2015 book, How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction, explores the technical, ethical and ecological challenges of bringing extinct species back to life. From deciding which species should be restored to anticipating how revived populations might be managed in the wild, Shapiro discusses the cutting-edge science that is being used to resurrect the past. In September, Shapiro will share her research on the astonishing and controversial process of de-extinction, from deciding which species should be restored, to sequencing their genomes, to anticipating how revived populations might be overseen in the wild. Ultimately, Shapiro will consider de-extinction’s practical benefits, costs, risks and ethical challenges. Shapiro reminds us that humans have been reshaping the world around us for ages, from early dogs to modern bacteria modified to pump out insulin. She claims, reshaping nature–resetting the course of evolution, ours and others’–is the essence of what our species does. Through the exploration of our evolutionary and cultural history, Shapiro will uncover a course for the future!