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I never thought that I’d be taking scientific advice from a movie director, but to some degree he’s right. I never used to think it would be possible to get genomes, but we now get genomes. I never thought we could actually reconstruct parts of those genomes, but we’ve done that too. Will we ever find a dinosaur that has viable DNA? I’ve learned to never say never.3

Scientists have warned about dangers associated with cloning. Should we be worried about de-extinction?
There are species facing extinction because of climate change, and adding diversity back into an existing population can have value. Ancient species are different. I think bringing them back for the sake of fascination is a bad idea. Scientists may think they understand the behaviours of these animals, but no one left notes on a cave wall explaining their daily routines. Breeding can also lead down a dangerous path. Just look at dogs: we have all these purebreds with breathing problems, dysplasia, the list goes on. Around 99 percent of all species that have lived have gone extinct. We should leave them in the past.

1. In 2009, scientists came close to achieving de-extinction. They were able to clone a Pyrenean ibex, a type of mountain goat that went extinct in 2000, but the animal died from a lung defect within minutes of being born.

2. The ground­breaking research, published in 1982, examined DNA fragments in a fly trapped in 40-million-year-old amber.