--- description: Resurrecting long-dead species of animals, or 'de-extinction', will not be a fantasy for much longer. But how is it possible? title: Watch: How Scientists Plan To Bring Extinct Animals Back To Life image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff11d9cac0e2814/69868531adae444485541ee0/t-rex.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch: How Scientists Plan To Bring Extinct Species Back To Life by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 11:01 AM CUT  <> on November 12, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. <> on November 12, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 11:01 AM CUT Conservationists and scientists have a saying, “extinction is forever.” But soon biologists will be able to clone long-gone animals, in the hopes of redefining that axiom to “DE-extinction is forever.” TIME talked with Stewart Brand, president of [Revive & Restore](http://longnow.org/revive/ "undefined"), about the technology that may soon allow scientists to bring back extinct species using the DNA found in museum fossils. In the video above, researchers discuss the process of bringing extinct species like the passenger pigeons back to life. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/22129/watch-how-scientists-plan-to-bring-extinct-species-back-to-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/22129/watch-how-scientists-plan-to-bring-extinct-species-back-to-life/"},"headline":"Watch: How Scientists Plan To Bring Extinct Species Back To Life","datePublished":"2014-03-13T11:01:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:44:04.787Z","description":"Resurrecting long-dead species of animals, or 'de-extinction', will not be a fantasy for much longer. But how is it possible?","url":"https://time.com/22129/watch-how-scientists-plan-to-bring-extinct-species-back-to-life/","keywords":["DNA","Conservation","Extinction","ideas","Species"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff11d9cac0e2814/69868531adae444485541ee0/t-rex.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff11d9cac0e2814/69868531adae444485541ee0/t-rex.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chicago's Field Museum Cleans Its Preserved T. Rex \"Sue\"","caption":"Chicago's Field Museum Cleans Its Preserved T. Rex \"Sue\"","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/22129/watch-how-scientists-plan-to-bring-extinct-species-back-to-life/","name":"Watch: How Scientists Plan To Bring Extinct Species Back To Life"}}]}] ```