US company hoping to bring back the dodo and the mammoth – but here’s why it won’t be like Jurassic Park
The idea of scientists bringing pre-historic creatures back to life with some clever DNA trickery might sound familiar to fans of the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park.
But for Colossal Biosciences – a company that hopes to reintroduce extinct species such as the dodo and the mammoth – it is more than just a film script.
It’s a reality – and one that could be just years away.
“We’ve got all the technology we need,” says Ben Lamm, chief executive of the firm, based in Dallas, Texas.
“It is just a focus of time and funding. But we are 100% confident [we can bring back] the Tasmanian tiger, the dodo, and the mammoth.”
The science behind the project is simple: Work out the genes that make an extinct animal what it is, and then replicate those genes using the DNA of a close existing relative.
“It’s almost reverse Jurassic Park,” says Mr Lamm, speaking to Sky News.
“In the film, they were filling in the holes in the dinosaur DNA with frog DNA.
“We are leveraging artificial intelligence and other tools to identify the core genes that make a mammoth a mammoth and then engineering them into elephant genomes.”
Ben Lamm, founder and chief executive of Colossal Biosciences. Pic: Colossal
That is the technical part.
But there are some other practical hurdles for Colossal to overcome, namely how, once you have mammoth cells, do you birth a real-life mammoth?
The answer, according to Colossal, is in the womb of an Asian elephant.
But it is a process that could take nearly two years, even after they have worked out how to do it.
“[Each of the] different projects [the mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger] have different challenges – the mammoth is really around gestation – which is around 22 months,” says Mr Lamm.
“The dodo gestation is pretty great – we are using surrogate chickens. The hardest part is cultivating the primordial germ cells.”
Colossal plans to create cells of extinct animals by genetically engineering the cells of their closest living relatives. Pic: Colossal
Pic: Colossal
‘Feeling good about 2028’
So after around 4,000 years of extinction, when could we see the return of the mighty mammoth – a creature that fell victim to human hunting and the changing conditions brought about by the end of the last Ice Age.
“We are well into the editing phase,” says Mr Lamm.
“We don’t have mammoths yet, but we still feel very good about 2028.”
Away from the lab, led by Eriona Hysolli, Colossal’s head of biological sciences, there are other issues to overcome – including where the newly returned species will live once they are born.
Eriona Hysolli, head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences. Pic: Colossal
Mr Lamm says the company is already working with local governments, conservation groups, indigenous people groups, private land lowers, and the public at large, to prepare for the animals to be returned to their natural habitat.
“Our ultimate goal is to put all the animals we make back into the wild,” he says.
‘New tools in the fight’ to protect nature
Colossal says the work is not just about rewilding animals previously lost to the world.
The company is currently working with Dr Paul Ling at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, to create a vaccine to eradicate the deadly EEHV virus – which kills around 20% of baby elephants each year.
It is also working closely with the University of Alaska and the University of Stockholm on radiocarbon dating of American mammoths as well as sequencing their genome – the largest study of its type ever undertaken.
Read more:
Colossal Biosciences announces project to bring back the dodo
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Mr Lamm also hopes that, through Colossal’s research, the company can tackle issues facing the world today, including a drop in biodiversity.
“I think we have a duty to this planet that we’ve been given – we are tending towards a loss of up to 50% biodiversity if we don’t do anything,” he says.
“Modern conservation is great, but we need new tools in the fight.
“Work on de-extinction goes hand-in-hand with species preservation, and if Colossal makes a couple of technologies, then maybe it will provide those tools.”
‘Jurassic Park helps people understand our work’
As for the Jurassic Park comparisons, well, there is one small issue, according to Mr Lamm.
In the Steven Spielberg-directed epic, the scientists use DNA embedded in fossilised mosquitoes in amber combined with frog DNA to bring dinosaurs back to life.
The scientists in Jurassic Park combined dinosaur DNA embedded in fossilised mosquitoes. Pic: PA
“Amber is not a good holder of DNA,” Mr Lamm says.
“But it’s a very entertaining movie and I think Jurassic Park made a lot of people interested in science. I saw it when I was younger and I was like: ‘Wow genetics is cool’.
“It did a lot to explain to the masses that genetic engineering is a thing and something that can be used in powerful ways, and I do think more people understand Colossal because of that.”
The company is also working on a film of its own, and, luckily for everyone, it’s not a dystopian thriller like Jurassic Park.
It has teamed up with award-winning director James Reed, a specialist in nature films, to document its “de-extinction” work.
“It’s really exciting. When you are doing anything bold, it is important to communicate and be transparent, and there’s nothing more transparent than having cameras around all the time,” says Mr Lamm.
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
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She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
Read more:
Sisters killed in Texas flooding found holding hands
Why did deadly Texas floods catch people by surprise?
Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
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