Stephen: Biotech company looking at reviving extinct wooly mammoth and dodo

Photo: John W. Schulze / CC BY 2.0

The long-dead woolly mammoth will make its return from extinction by 2027, says Colossal, the biotech company actively working to reincarnate the ancient beast. According to Popular Mechanics, the Dallas-based firm scored an additional $60 million in funding last year to continue the mammoth gene-editing work it started in 2021. If successful, not only will Colossal bring back an extinct species, which the company dubs a cold-resistant elephant, but it will also reintroduce the woolly mammoth to the same ecosystem in which it once lived in an effort to fight climate change.

Colossal is also trying to restore the dodo, a creature infamous for having been wiped out 350 years ago. The startup has managed to sequence the bird’s entire genome last year and plans to spend $150 million into the project. They’re also attempting to bring back Tasmanian tigers. Next, scientists will gene-edit the skin cells of the Nicobar pigeon to match the dodo. Then the genetically-altered cells will be used to create an embryo.