From wildlife conservation, to saving endangered species, to removing toxins from the environment, learn how genetic technologies have helped us to understand ecology and manage environments. Note: this program was originally produced in 2001, and updated in 2006 with funds from the Public Radio Exchange.

Discover the ways in which genetic tools have helped define life at home on Earth, and how new understandings about energy, metabolism and replication influence the search for life in the universe.

In 221 bc, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, best known for building the Great Wall of China, searched for the "elixir of life." In 1513, Ponce de Leon traveled to what is now Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth. Today, researchers are still searching for the "fountain of youth," but they are turning to genetic tools, rather than foreign lands, to find it.

Although the ability to predict, prevent and treat disease with genetic technologies such as gene therapy, stem cell research, and xenotransplantation seems like a real possibility, it is not without controversies and roadblocks.