The project plans to use the latest CRISPR, a revolutionary gene editing technology to reincarnate the extinct Woolly Mammoth
Remember Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jurassic Park’ film where the long-extinct dinosaurs were reincarnated using cutting edge technology? Something similar is going to be done by a startup called Colossal Biosciences. The company hopes to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2027.
Colossal will use the latest CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology, to reincarnate the extinct Woolly Mammoth, which once roamed the Tundra regions but became extinct some 10,000 years ago.
Colossal does not intend to fully recreate the woolly mammoth. Instead, it would tinker with the cold-adapted genetic traits including smaller ears and more body fat, with the present-day elephants and create a hybrid that will once again reclaim the Tundra where their extinct ancestors roamed some 10,000 years ago.
Colossal plans to develop artificial wombs for Woolly Mammoth embryos
According to the CNET Science newsletter, Colossal is the brainchild of Chief Executive Ben Lamm and George Church, a Harvard Medical School professor with deep CRISPR expertise. However, beyond the reincarnation of the extinction of the Woolly Mammoth, the spinoffs of the project will be immense. Large-scale Genome engineering can be used for many other applications. The promise of commercialization is immense.
George Church is an expert in CRISPR and had helped to develop multiplex genome engineering which enables faster genetic editing through multiple changes to DNA at once. Colossal is planning to develop artificial wombs for its mammoth embryos. The company does not envision growing 10 Woolly Mammoths with surrogate elephants but wants to create large-scale herds which will roam in the Tundra.
Pleistocene Park: A future Jurassic Park?
The company is not talking about commercializing but researchers are already scouring in the extreme North Russia Tundra region.
Researchers Sergey and Nikita Zimov are in the Pleistocene Park, a 60-square miles location named after the geologic period that ended with the last Ice Age. The duo will be testing their theories about the ecological and climatic effects of re-wilding.
