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The printer whirred and an elephant’s head emerged. She’d only ever seen scans of one in the database. It peered at her through bleary eyes.

At the University of Washington, engineering students and instructors are working together to scan, digitize and 3D print the missing parts of a Columbian mammoth skeleton, intended for display in the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Simultaneously, a grant was also awarded to the openVertebrate database project, which plans to scan and catalogue over 20,000 vertebrates. In this story, Gabrielle Bleu ponders the potential consequences of these projects if their aims were combined. Will we arrive at some Frankenstenian future where we 3D print extinct animals back to life? // Alex Massey

//Gabrielle Bleu @BeteMonstrueuse deepest fears are dogs and the ocean. She enjoys talking about bats, and old things buried in archives.//