A publication in relation to the  the De-extinct research project with the Sicyos villosus as a main protagonist.

Endemic to the Galapagos Islands, Sicyos villosa was collected by Charles Darwin during his journey on the Beagle (1831–36) but is now extinct. This forlorn member of the Cucurbitaceae family is still known to science thanks only to a single specimen preserved in the Sainsbury Laboratory of the Cambridge University Herbarium, where Darwin’s complete botanical collection is preserved. Aftering reading that a group of contemporary scientists were hoping to de-extinct Sicyos villosus using biotechnologies that could recover its DNA from Darwin’s specimen, Justine Blau began to investigate what it means to bring a species back to life. She undertook a journey to understand the desire for de-extinction and what it was, exactly, that science was now trying to save. While Blau uncovers the conservation complex, her camera discovers another potency of nature held in abeyance.

https://k-verlag.org/

Project support by the Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg,  the Ministry of Culture in Luxembourg and the Focuna, Luxembourg