A Dallas-based startup, Colossal Biosciences, has secured a major boost in funding to revive extinct species. The company, valued at over $10 billion, announced it received $200 million in series C funding from TWG Global. This brings the total investment to $435 million since its launch in 2021.
Colossal aims to bring back three iconic species: the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird. The company has already developed genomes for each species and an artificial womb device to culture single-cell embryos. They have also successfully hatched chimeric chicks from chicken primordial germ cells.
The funding will help grow the team, support new technology development, expand the list of de-extinction species, and continue the mission to combat biodiversity loss. Around 27,000 species go extinct each year, with wildlife populations shrinking by 73 percent since 1970. Colossal’s ultimate goal is to make extinction a thing of the past.
Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro said, “The real promise lies not just in the technology, but also in how we might apply these tools to protect and restore endangered species and ecosystems.” With this funding, Colossal is one step closer to achieving its mission and potentially reversing some of the damage caused by human-caused extinction.
Source: https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/colossal-biosciences-mammoth-20038093.php