An experiment has been taking place in the UK to ascertain if it is possible to ‘de-extinct’ a nation that no longer exists
An experiment is under way in the UK to ascertain if it is possible to ‘de-extinct’ a nation that no longer existsPro-EU campaigner Steve Bray protests against Brexit outside Westminster on Wednesday. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAIt has been reported recently in the media that a gene editing company, Colossal Biosciences, is aiming to bring “back to life” the proverbially extinct dodo, a species of bird last seen alive in Mauritius in the 17th century.
What has received far less scientific attention is another recent, in many ways more interesting, experiment that has been taking place in the UK. The remarkably ambitious project, spread out over several years now, has been to ascertain whether it is possible to recreate – or to use the technical term to “de-extinct” – a nation that no longer exists.
As I understand it, the exciting Brexit concept is to mine the genome of an imperial past so that key traits from that glorious history, also on display like the dodo in various museums around the world, can be grafted on to a living, albeit distant, relative – namely the mid-sized, mid-ranking, shrewdly self-aware, intelligently outward-looking, modestly confident Britain that its neighbours had come to respect and admire.
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