By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-04 17:26:31 | Updated at 2025-03-04 22:14:43
4 hours ago
Colossal Biosciences, a US start-up trying to bring the prehistoric mammoth back from extinction, said it has achieved a first step: the woolly mouse.
Using DNA and genomics technologies, scientists have modified the mice to have longer, thicker hair and an altered metabolism expected to allow them to tolerate colder temperatures, the start-up said on Tuesday – claiming a breakthrough in its mission to revive the long-extinct mammoth.
The company said it was on track to produce a woolly mammoth calf born to a surrogate elephant mother by late 2028.
“Woolly mouse is not just a feat of engineering,” said Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Ben Lamm. “It’s really proving that our targeted approach to precision editing based on very deep computational analysis works.”
Despite some scepticism from paleo-geneticists, Colossal Biosciences has so far raised US$435 million, and was valued at US$10.2 billion in a January funding round from investor TWG Global.
The company’s previous backers include high-profile names like Winklevoss Capital Management and celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Peter Jackson and Chris Hemsworth.
