{"id":20760,"date":"2018-03-06T13:10:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T18:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=20760"},"modified":"2018-03-23T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T14:36:40","slug":"utcs-craddock-appears-billy-nye-saves-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2018\/03\/utcs-craddock-appears-billy-nye-saves-world\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC’s Dr. Hill Craddock appears on ‘Bill Nye Saves the World’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UTC’s Dr. Hill Craddock, second from right, appears on ‘Bill Nye Saves the World’ to discuss extinction.<\/p><\/div>\n

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To help<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Want to be part of rescuing the American chestnut tree? Get information at The American Chestnut Foundation: www.acf.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. Hill Craddock is on a crusade that has lasted about 30 years\u2014rescue the American chestnut tree.<\/p>\n

Not that the species has totally disappeared, but fungi brought over on Asian chestnuts in the early 1900s has wiped out billions of trees. There are still millions of American chestnuts left, but they\u2019re sterile, incapable of reproducing. Extinction is a given if steps aren\u2019t taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American chestnut is functionally extinct but it\u2019s not all-the-way, all-the-way extinct,\u201d says Craddock, a UC Foundation Robert M. Davenport Professor of biology, geology and environmental science.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I want to emphasize is conservation, the importance of conservation. If you understand that extinction is permanent and it\u2019s a disaster we need to do what we can now to preserve rare species and endangered species.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few months ago, Craddock brought his chestnut passion to Bill Nye Saves the World,<\/em> the Netflix series hosted by the \u201cScience Guy.\u201d On the episode titled \u201cExtinction: Why All Our Friends Are Dying,\u201d Craddock was on a panel discussion with Dr. Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction, <\/em>and comedian Nazeem Hussain.<\/p>\n

After flying to Los Angeles, Craddock spent about eight hours in a TV studio and ended up with a bit more than a minute of face time on the 30-minute show. In those seconds, he explained how the American chestnut population is decimated and how it can be saved through genetic engineering and plant-breeding techniques.<\/p>\n

As he spoke, he was interrupted by comic Hussain, who asked why Craddock was concentrating on saving a tree if it was possible to bring back a \u201cpterodactyl\u201d or \u201csaber-tooth tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to ride a pterodactyl. He wants us to bring back a sabertooth tiger because they\u2019re cool. They\u2019re more cool than chestnut trees,\u201d Craddock says with a verbal shrug.<\/p>\n

\u201cDe-extincting\u201d a saber-toothed tiger\u2014or any extinct species\u2014is impossible, Craddock says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as de-extinction,\u201d he says. \u201cExtinction is permanent and it\u2019s part of evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Bill Nye Saves the World,<\/em> Shapiro explained that (despite the title of her book), you can\u2019t actually bring back an extinct species by cloning it with DNA found in its fossils.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce something is gone, it\u2019s gone forever,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

And just a head\u2019s up, Craddock says: Jurassic Park<\/em> isn\u2019t real.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk is that people think we can bring back the dinosaurs,\u201d he says. \u201cSomehow they\u2019re going to think, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s not such a big deal. If we lose a species we can just de-extinct it.\u2019 That\u2019s just not how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

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