WASHINGTON — Extinction remains a permanent state, but scientists at biotech company Colossal Biosciences believe they have found the next best approach to reviving ancient creatures: genetically engineering existing animals to adopt traits similar to those of extinct species like the woolly mammoth.
Woolly mammoths once wandered across the frozen plains of Europe, Asia, and North America until their extinction roughly 4,000 years ago. In 2021, Colossal captured attention with its ambitious goal to revive the woolly mammoth and later the dodo bird. The company has since concentrated on identifying critical traits of extinct animals by analyzing ancient DNA. The aim is to genetically “engineer them into living animals,” explained the company’s CEO, Ben Lamm.
The scientific community holds varying opinions on whether this tactic could benefit conservation efforts. “You’re not actually resurrecting anything — you’re not bringing back the ancient past,” commented Christopher Preston, an expert in wildlife and environment from the University of Montana, who did not participate in the research.
On Tuesday, Colossal revealed that its scientists successfully edited seven genes in mice embryos, resulting in mice with thick and woolly hair, whimsically called the “Colossal woolly mouse.” The findings have been shared online, though they have not been formally published in a scientific journal or independently assessed.
Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University of Buffalo uninvolved in the study, noted the achievement as “technologically pretty cool.” While mice have been genetically modified since the 1970s, Lynch highlighted that modern tools like CRISPR now make the process more efficient and accessible.
Colossal scientists sifted through DNA databases of mouse genes to identify those linked to hair texture and fat metabolism. “These genetic variations already exist in some living mice,” said Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro, “but we combined them in a single mouse.”
The focus on these two traits was strategic, as they are presumably associated with cold resistance—essential for woolly mammoths to thrive in the ancient Arctic environment.
Initially, the company targeted mice to ensure the viability of their methods before potentially attempting to edit the embryos of Asian elephants, which share a lineage with woolly mammoths. However, because Asian elephants are endangered, multiple processes and regulatory hurdles must be addressed before advancing this project, stated Lamm, noting the company’s significant investment of over $400 million.
Experts remain cautious about the concept of “de-extinction.” “You might be able to alter the hair pattern of an Asian elephant or adapt it to the cold, but it’s not bringing back a woolly mammoth. It’s changing an Asian elephant,” Preston emphasized.
Despite skepticism, the precision of gene-editing in animals might find applications in conservation or animal agriculture, said Bhanu Telugu from the University of Missouri, who was not involved in the study but recognized the potential of pinpointing specific genes to target.
Lamm suggested that this approach might one day aid in combating human diseases. Thus far, Colossal has launched two healthcare companies from its genetic research innovations. “It’s part of how we monetize our business,” Lamm remarked.
