Could we walk among the woolly mammoth once again? Scientists are working on just that, and it could happen quite soon.
Colossal Biosciences, a biotech company who wants to make seeing the Tasmanian tiger in real life a reality, announced it raised $200 million in investment, making the total money raised $435 million, per a release.
“Colossal is a revolutionary genetics company making science fiction into science fact. We are creating the technology to build de-extinction science and scale conservation biology particularly for endangered and at-risk species. I could not be more appreciative of the investor support for this important mission,” George Church, Ph.D, Colossal Co-founder said in a release.
Based on current progress, it could bring back the woolly mammoth within the next decade, but predicting a timeline depends on several factors.
How would bringing back extinct animals work?
First, scientists need to have a viable womb. Colossal co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told Axios that its artificial womb could be able to gestate a small mammal within the next two years.
Three techniques are key in being able to revive once lost species, according to CNN, 1) cloning, 2) genetic engineering and 3) traditional back breeding, “a form of selective breeding that seeks to recreate lost traits from extinct species.”
What concerns are there for bringing back formerly extinct animals?
Skeptics worry that reintroducing creatures to their old habitats “could imperil living animals used as surrogates and the ecosystems into which resurrected individuals might ultimately be released,” CNN reported.