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Colossal recently added $60 million in funding to transition to a 2027 woolly mammoth de-extinction.
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The Dallas-based company is currently working to edit the mammal’s reincarnation genes.
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Colossal planned to reintroduce the woolly mammoth to Russia, but that could change.
The long-dead woolly mammoth will return from extinction by 2027, according to Colossal, the biotech company actively working to reincarnate the ancient beast.
Last year, the Dallas-based company secured an additional $60 million in funding to continue the mammoth gene-editing work it began in 2021. If successful, Colossal will not only bring back a species extinct, the one the company dubs a cold-resistant elephant – but it will also reintroduce the woolly mammoth to the same ecosystem it once lived in in a bid to fight climate change, according to a recent AVERAGE Publish.
Colossal calls the woolly mammoth’s vast migration patterns an active part of keeping the Arctic healthy, and thus bringing the animal back to life can have a beneficial impact on the health of the global ecosystem. While Colossal originally hoped to reintroduce the woolly mammoth to Siberia, the company may explore other options depending on the world’s current political framework.
The woolly mammoth’s DNA matches that of the Asian elephant 99.6%, leading Colossal to believe he is well on his way to achieving his goal. “In the minds of many, this creature is gone forever,” the company states. “But not in the minds of our scientists, or in our company labs. We are already in the process of de-extinction of the woolly mammoth. Our teams have collected viable DNA samples and are editing the genes that will allow this wonderful megafauna to cross the Arctic again.
Through gene editing, Colossal scientists will eventually create a woolly mammoth embryo. They will place the embryo in an African elephant to take advantage of its size and allow it to give birth to the new woolly mammoth. The end goal is to then repopulate parts of the Arctic with the new woolly mammoth and bolster local plant life with the beast’s migration patterns and feeding habits.
If Colossal succeeds in reincarnating the woolly mammoth – ditto the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger – expect a variety of new ethical questions to arise over how to handle the creature and potential issues of reintroduction.
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