Colossal Here

The story of most often refers to Colossal Biosciences , a Dallas-based biotechnology company founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church. Their mission is to "make extinction a thing of the past" by using advanced genetic engineering to bring back functional versions of extinct species and preserve those currently at risk. The Mission: De-Extinction and Preservation

Rather than simple "cloning," Colossal uses a "de-extinction toolkit" to edit the DNA of a living relative to match an extinct ancestor. Colossal

Colossal is currently working on several high-profile species: The story of most often refers to Colossal

In October 2024, the company launched the Colossal Foundation , a non-profit dedicated to applying these technologies to today's endangered species. They are currently working on a vaccine for a deadly elephant virus (EEHV) and biobanking the "top 100" most imperiled species to ensure their genetic survival. : Working with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, they

: Used to splice ancient DNA traits into modern genomes.

: Working with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, they plan to return a proxy of the dodo to Mauritius within five to seven years.

: The company aims to produce mammoth-like Asian elephant embryos by 2026, with the first calves expected by 2028.