US Firm Aims to ‘Resurrect’ Mammoths
Texas-based Colossal Biosciences has secured more than $400 million to ‘resurrect’ extinct species such as woolly mammoths, Tasmanian tigers, and dodo birds. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based startup, is focused on gene editing and developing artificial wombs with the goal of resurrecting extinct species such as the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird. Recently, the company secured an additional $200 million in funding for these ambitious projects.
The firm is led by AI entrepreneur Ben Lamm, who informed Bloomberg that the company plans to produce a mammoth calf by 2028. “We’re not going to do anything until we get the genomes right,” Lamm stated in a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Technology.
Currently, Colossal is in the “editing phase,” with progress on the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, described by Lamm as “actually ahead of schedule.” He also noted that a 17-person team is dedicated to developing artificial wombs, with the first prototype expected within the next two years.
Colossal's market value exceeds $10 billion, with a total funding of $435 million, which includes the latest $200 million investment from TWG Global. Mark Walter, CEO of TWG, commented on Colossal’s impressive advancements, stating that he was drawn to the company due to its “significant technology innovations and impact in advancing conservation.”
Lamm discussed his inspiration for the project, referencing early predictions that Earth would lose 15% of its biodiversity by 2050—a figure that has since been adjusted to reflect a potential 50% decline. “It would be better to have a de-extinction toolkit and not need it than to need a de-extinction toolkit and not have it,” he remarked.
The ambitious nature of the project has garnered comparisons to Michael Crichton’s cautionary tale, “Jurassic Park,” which revolved around the recreation of dinosaurs.
In December 2023, Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko announced a partnership with Colossal to establish a ‘Pleistocene Park.’ During the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Melnichenko noted that this initiative aims to mitigate methane emissions from Siberian permafrost by reintroducing Ice Age fauna as a “cost-effective method to mitigate climate change.” However, US sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict have stalled the initiative.
Colossal was co-founded in 2021 by Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church, with backing from the CIA's In-Q-Tel. It is believed that the woolly mammoth faced a population collapse approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age, with the species ultimately fading away around 4,000 years ago.
The company’s other projects focus on more recent extinctions. The dodo, a flightless bird, went extinct in the late 1600s due to the introduction of invasive species by European explorers in its native Mauritius, while the last known thylacine passed away in 1936 in Tasmania's Hobart Zoo.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
The firm is led by AI entrepreneur Ben Lamm, who informed Bloomberg that the company plans to produce a mammoth calf by 2028. “We’re not going to do anything until we get the genomes right,” Lamm stated in a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Technology.
Currently, Colossal is in the “editing phase,” with progress on the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, described by Lamm as “actually ahead of schedule.” He also noted that a 17-person team is dedicated to developing artificial wombs, with the first prototype expected within the next two years.
Colossal's market value exceeds $10 billion, with a total funding of $435 million, which includes the latest $200 million investment from TWG Global. Mark Walter, CEO of TWG, commented on Colossal’s impressive advancements, stating that he was drawn to the company due to its “significant technology innovations and impact in advancing conservation.”
Lamm discussed his inspiration for the project, referencing early predictions that Earth would lose 15% of its biodiversity by 2050—a figure that has since been adjusted to reflect a potential 50% decline. “It would be better to have a de-extinction toolkit and not need it than to need a de-extinction toolkit and not have it,” he remarked.
The ambitious nature of the project has garnered comparisons to Michael Crichton’s cautionary tale, “Jurassic Park,” which revolved around the recreation of dinosaurs.
In December 2023, Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko announced a partnership with Colossal to establish a ‘Pleistocene Park.’ During the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Melnichenko noted that this initiative aims to mitigate methane emissions from Siberian permafrost by reintroducing Ice Age fauna as a “cost-effective method to mitigate climate change.” However, US sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict have stalled the initiative.
Colossal was co-founded in 2021 by Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church, with backing from the CIA's In-Q-Tel. It is believed that the woolly mammoth faced a population collapse approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age, with the species ultimately fading away around 4,000 years ago.
The company’s other projects focus on more recent extinctions. The dodo, a flightless bird, went extinct in the late 1600s due to the introduction of invasive species by European explorers in its native Mauritius, while the last known thylacine passed away in 1936 in Tasmania's Hobart Zoo.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
