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Can a crystal bring humans back to life in case of extinction?

The human genome has been stored on an β€˜everlasting’ crystal.

Time capsules preserve artefacts and memories so that people in the future can learn about a particular time in the past. Now scientists at the University of Southampton in the U.K. have come up with an innovative memento: a β€œmemory crystal” that fits in your hand and contains the entire human genome. It’s essentially a manual that defines what makes us human.

How could future generations use the genetic information in the crystal? Nimesh Pinnamaneni, the CEO of Helixworks, the company behind this technology, explains. We also hear from the founder of Memory of Mankind, an archive of human memories that’s located in a salt mine in Austria. It aims to preserve a back-up of human civilisation, including the crystal, in case we disappear.

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: William Lee Adams and Maria Clara Montoya
Editor: Verity Wilde

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14 minutes

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Tue 24 Sep 2024 02:50GMT
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only

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