Bringing Back Extinct Animals?

Written by: Keya Gambhir

Imagine being able to bring back animals that have been extinct for thousands of years. It may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but this idea is becoming a reality thanks to a company called Colossal Biosciences. Colossal uses advanced science and technology to revive species that have disappeared from Earth, like the woolly mammoth and the dodo bird. Let’s take a closer look at what they’ve been up to!

Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Dallas, is working on an exciting project to bring back extinct animals. Their big goal is to use science to "revive" species that have been gone for thousands of years. Recently, they shared two big breakthroughs that are helping them move closer to making this dream a reality.

First, Colossal announced that they had created genetically engineered woolly mice. These mice are special because they have traits from the extinct woolly mammoth, like thick, curly fur and the ability to store fat. This is possible because of a technology called CRISPR, which allows scientists to change an animal’s genes. By studying mammoth DNA found in old fossils, Colossal scientists were able to insert mammoth genes into mouse embryos. An embryo is an early stage of development in an animal when it is still growing inside its mother. After a lot of testing, they successfully created 38 mice with mammoth-like traits. While these mice aren’t actual mammoths, the experiment shows that it’s possible to use gene editing to bring back traits from extinct animals. Next, Colossal wants to insert these edited genes into an elephant embryo and, one day, create a real woolly mammoth!

At the same time, Colossal is also trying to bring back the dire wolf, a giant wolf that disappeared over 10,000 years ago. They recently announced that they had created three puppies with some of the traits of the dire wolf. But there’s a catch—these pups aren’t true dire wolves. They’re genetically modified versions of regular wolves that have been changed to look and act more like the extinct species. Even though some scientists think this might not count as “bringing back” the real dire wolf, Colossal sees it as another important step forward.

Colossal is also working on bringing back the dodo bird, a flightless bird that went extinct over 300 years ago. The dodo was once found on the island of Mauritius, but because of hunting and other environmental changes, it disappeared. Colossal is using similar gene-editing technology to bring back traits of the dodo, though this project is still in the early stages.

Colossal’s work is exciting, but it also raises some big questions. Should we bring back animals that have been gone for a long time? Would it help our planet, or could it cause problems? Beth Shapiro, Colossal's Chief Science Officer, believes that while de-extinction (bringing back extinct species) is cool, it should not replace regular conservation efforts. With many species in danger today because of things like climate change, Shapiro thinks we should focus on saving animals that are still around first.

Even though it’s still early, Colossal’s work is showing us that science might be able to bring back lost species in the future, though we’ll need to think carefully about what that really means for our world.