Designing Humans, Erasing Extinction & Ending Natural Reproduction - Ben Lamm (Video)

In this 13 May 2025 Impact Theory video, host Tom Bilyeu sits down with Ben Lamm, the visionary entrepreneur behind Colossal Biosciences, to explore a world that sounds straight out of science fiction—yet is rapidly becoming our reality. Together, they pull back the curtain on the groundbreaking technology making de-extinction not only possible, but increasingly practical, from resurrecting woolly mammoths and dire wolves to saving endangered species and unraveling the secrets of longevity.

Ben explains how CRISPR gene editing has unlocked the power to make precise DNA changes—editing multiple genes simultaneously, synthesizing entirely new genetic blocks, and pushing the limits of what’s possible in biology and conservation. The conversation dives deep into the technical hurdles, ethical questions, and the unexpected magic of re-engineering life itself, whether it’s creating hairier, “woolly” mice or tackling the colossal challenge of artificial wombs and universal eggs.

But this episode goes way beyond Jurassic Park fantasies. Tom and Ben debate the future of human health, gene selection through IVF, the specter of eugenics, global competition in biotechnology, and how AI will soon supercharge the pace of biological engineering. They even touch on revolutionary solutions to our plastic crisis and what it means to inspire the next generation of scientists.

Get ready to have your mind expanded. This is not just a podcast about bringing back extinct creatures—it’s a deep dive into the next frontiers of life on Earth, the technologies changing everything, and the choices we’ll face as architects of our own biology. Let’s get legendary.

https://youtu.be/01VTQpsiD2c

00:00 – Meet Ben Lamm: The Man Rebuilding Extinct Life
01:30 – Gene Editing Just Leveled Up: CRISPR’s New Power
06:32 – Can We Edit DNA Without Consequences?
11:16 – How Scientists Deliver Edits Into Living Cells
18:45 – The Woolly Mouse: A Real-Life Sci-Fi Breakthrough
23:12 – What Happens When You Hack Every Animal Cell Type?
28:06 – The Secret Role Biology Plays in Human Pregnancy
33:57 – Are We Playing God? The Ethics of De-Extinction
40:49 – Would You Genetically Screen Your Future Partner?
44:11 – What Happens When Gene Editing Goes Mainstream?
48:07 – The Future of Health Starts With Your DNA
53:37 – Can American Values Survive Wildlife Resurrection?
59:12 – How Systems Thinking Is Changing BioTech Forever
01:05:58 – Why Protein Folding Might Solve Everything
01:08:59 – Direwolves Were Real. Here’s What We Found.
01:17:59 – Jurassic Park Got It Wrong: The Truth About Rewilding
01:24:05 – Want to Live Longer? Sleep Like This.
01:29:28 – The Dangerous Cost of Generational Knowledge Loss
01:30:11 – Is AI the Key to Human Immortality?
01:40:23 – Why Predators Pick the Weakest—And How That Saves Us
01:45:28 – This AI Can Now Engineer Life from Code
01:49:48 – What If Your Home Was a Bioluminescent Treehouse?
01:51:41 – Underwater Cities Are Closer Than You Think