In what was once seen as a science-fiction dream, Texas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences, which had earlier raised $200 million in funding, continues to push ahead with its ambitious plan to revive the woolly mammoth by 2028. The investment, announced in early 2024, took the company’s total backing to about $435 million, signalling strong investor confidence in what Colossal calls the dawn of “de-extinction science.”
Founded by Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church, Colossal has quickly evolved from a curiosity into one of the best-funded startups in biotechnology. Its latest round, led by TWG Global and joined by new and existing investors including Peter Jackson’s firm, values the company at around $10.2 billion, according to reports.
Beyond the Jurassic Park comparisons
Lamm, who has spent much of the past year countering pop-culture analogies, insists Colossal’s goal isn’t to build a real-life Jurassic Park. “That was a movie,” he said in a recent interview. “What we’re doing is ecological restoration.”
The company says reintroducing mammoth-like elephants to the Arctic could help rebuild grassland ecosystems and slow permafrost melt, a practical conservation experiment, not a cinematic spectacle.
Colossal Biosciences and The Science behind the revival
Colossal’s plan involves editing genes from preserved mammoth DNA into the cells of the Asian elephant, a species that shares 99.6% of its DNA with its Ice Age relative. Using advanced gene-editing tools and cloning techniques, scientists aim to create embryos that can grow into calves carried by elephant surrogates.
The company operates labs in Dallas, Cambridge (Massachusetts), and Melbourne, each focusing on different stages of the process, from genome sequencing to embryo development. Alongside the mammoth, Colossal is also working on projects to bring back the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) and the dodo, although the bird’s genome work is still at the computational stage.
The funding will expand Colossal’s research into artificial wombs, technology that could one day help endangered species such as the northern white rhino reproduce without needing a live surrogate.
Lamm says such breakthroughs will be made available for conservation efforts worldwide, while the core technologies, like advanced gene editing and cellular engineering, could spawn profitable spin-offs in biotech and veterinary medicine.
Colossal’s founders say de-extinction is not about playing god, but about reversing ecological loss using genetic tools. “We’re developing technologies that can save species alive today,” Lamm said, adding that Colossal works closely with local governments and indigenous groups to ensure ethical reintroductions.
Still some distance to go
Artificial wombs are still being tested on small mammals, and the mammoth project continues to rely on elephant surrogates, a delicate and ethically complex process. The dodo and thylacine projects are also years behind the mammoth effort.
Interestingly, Lamm notes that Colossal regularly receives drawings of mammoths and dodos from schoolchildren, a reminder, he says, that the company’s work “is making science cool again.”
Backed by nearly half a billion dollars and clear scientific milestones, Colossal Biosciences is turning the once-fantasy of reviving extinct species into serious biotech. Success or not, its work could reshape conservation, shifting focus from mere preservation to restoration through technology.
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