Texas-based biotechnology firm Colossal Biosciences is leveraging advanced artificial intelligence, CRISPR gene-editing, and ancient DNA extraction to revive extinct species. The company, co-founded by Ben Lamm and geneticist George Church, focuses on species lost in more recent history, as dinosaur DNA has degraded too significantly for such efforts. By utilizing fragmented genetic material from fossils, researchers are attempting to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and biological restoration.
The company recently made headlines for its work with the dire wolf. Scientists successfully reconstructed the animal’s genome by using AI models to piece together broken DNA sequences extracted from a fossilized skull and tooth. This computational blueprint was then mapped against the DNA of a gray wolf, the creature's closest living relative. Researchers edited living cells from modern gray wolves to create embryos, which were then gestated by surrogate domestic dogs. On October 1, 2024, three pups—named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—were born in North Texas, marking the first successful lineage derived from an animal that disappeared over 12,500 years ago.
Colossal is now applying a similar methodology to its high-profile woolly mammoth project, which aims to integrate cold-weather traits into the cells of modern Asian elephants. The firm anticipates the birth of its first mammoth by the 2030s. CEO Ben Lamm emphasized that the project is driven by ecological goals rather than mere scientific curiosity. According to the company, these animals could help preserve Arctic permafrost by compacting snow and transforming heat-absorbing forests back into reflective tundra grasslands.
While critics have questioned the biological authenticity of these resurrected animals, Lamm maintains that the primary objective is to restore vital ecological functions. Beyond the mammoth and dire wolf, the firm is also exploring the resurrection of the dodo bird, the Tasmanian tiger, and the giant New Zealand moa bird.
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