De-Extinction Nightmare Part 1: Nazi Cows (E368)

The long history of humans bending biology for civilization eventually raised an important question: if animals can be domesticated, then couldn’t they also be de-domesticated? Further: could selective breeding allow scientists to reverse-engineer a species back from extinction and contain identical DNA to its ancestors? The first people to attempt “de-extinction” were, naturally, mad zoologists supported by Nazis. Modern attempts to leverage molecular biology to revive long-lost species provide a classic example of history rhyming. In part one of this two-part episode, Jack explores the disturbing ideology behind the de-extinction efforts of the Heck brothers in 1930s Germany, as well as their attempts to create so-called “genetically pure” species. Next week, we’ll unpack the floundering species revival program from genetic engineering startup Colossal Biosciences and why billionaires and the Trump administration are so invested in gaining the ability to make extinction less permanent than commonly believed.

You can listen to De-Extinction Nightmare Part 1: Nazi Cows (E368) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

De-Extinction Nightmare Part 1: Nazi Cows (E368) is an episode from QAnon Anonymous by QAA Podcast.

This episode is 00:55:40 long.

This episode was published on Apr 16, 2026.

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