Join The Explorers Club for an in person screening of ALTER EGO: Cloning, the Age of Reason?, a deep dive into the growing field of cloning.
In his latest film, ALTER EGO: Cloning, the Age of Reason?, Luc Hardy, French-American explorer-producer and environmental advocate, immerses us into the world of cloning, full of questions and promises…
From Professor Ludovic Orlando’s research in the steppes of the Russian Altai to camel beauty contests in the United Arab Emirates, between ethics and scientific progress, this journey documents the divergent visions of cloning as well as its possible benefits for our ecosystems and mankind.
This in-person event at the Explorers Club Headquarters will include an audience Q&A.
A screening at the Explorers Club – Wednesday, March 10th at 7:00 pm ET.
RESERVATIONS
This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.
In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Luc Hardy
Luc Hardy, is a French-American explorer, entrepreneur and environmental advocate.
Luc is a Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York and of the Royal Geographic Society and a member of the Société des Explorateurs Français.
Via the sport of polo, Luc re-discovered the world of cloning which led to the development of the film: Alter Ego: Cloning the Age of Reason?
Luc is founder of the Pax Arctica NGO and has spent the last two decades advocating for climate change awareness, adaptation and solutions through his award-winning films and photography projects, public advocacy and expedition leadership, and prolific writing. Luc has travelled extensively around the world, from Somalia and Congo DRC to the North Pole and the jungles of Papua to Pakistani and Colombian glaciers. Luc has produced several documentaries including The Pursuit of Endurance (2015), Arktika Incognita (2018), At The Edge of Light (2020), Among the Corals (2022), the Rotterdam International film Festival winner EAMI (2022), Pax Sargassum and Ice Giants (2024).
Luc is also the author of several books including Antarctic Adventure, Greenland Impressions, Arctic Transitions, The Pursuit of Endurance – On the Shoulders of Shackleton as well as the recently released Traveltone.
Alta Charo
R. Alta Charo, JD is professor emerita of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, and now works as an independent consultant to government and industry on medical and biotechnology ethics, policy and governance related to human therapeutics, agriculture, species conservation and national security. She was a member of President Clinton’s National Bioethics Advisory Commission, which wrote recommendations for federal policy on cloning, embryonic stem cells and human subjects research. She has worked as a legal and policy analyst for the former congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the US Agency for International Development and the FDA. As a member of the National Academy of Medicine, she co-chaired committees on guidelines for embryonic stem cell research and recommendations for genome editing governance. She has also served on the WHO expert committee on global governance of genome editing, and the ethics and policy committees of the International Society of Stem Cell Research.
Ben Novak
Ben Novak is the lead scientist for the conservation non-profit Revive & Restore. He manages 18 projects developing reproductive technologies and genome editing for birds and mammals, including the audacious effort to recreate the extinct passenger pigeon. While passenger pigeons are Ben’s passion and specialty, the conceptualization and advocation of biotech-based genetic rescue solutions for all organisms have been a lifelong pursuit. He leads the world’s first genetic rescue cloning programs that produced the first clone of a U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret cloned from cells biobanked in 1980. In 2024, a black-footed ferret clone became the first clone of an endangered species ever to give birth, establishing the first step towards restoring lost genetic diversity for the species. The cloning program inspired the initiation of the first systematic biobanking program for U.S. endangered species partnered with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which Ben helped form and currently coordinates.
