KSNF/KODE — The long-dead woolly mammoth will make its return from extinction by 2027, according to biotech company, Colossal; actively working to reincarnate the ancient beast.
Last year, the Dallas-based firm received an additional $60 million in funding to continue the “mammoth” gene-editing work it started in 2021. If successful, not only will Colossal bring back an extinct species — one the company dubs “a cold-resistant elephant” — but it will also reintroduce the woolly mammoth to the same ecosystem in which it once lived, in an effort to fight climate change, according to a recent post on the website, Medium.
Colossal calls the woolly mammoth’s vast migration patterns, “an active part of preserving the health of the Arctic, and so bringing the animal back to life can have a beneficial impact on the health of the world’s ecosystem.” While Colossal originally hoped to reintroduce the woolly mammoth into Siberia, the company may explore other options based on the world’s current political climate.
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The woolly mammoth’s DNA is a 99.6% match of the Asian elephant, which leads Colossal to believe it’s well on its way toward achieving its goal.
“In the minds of many, this creature is gone forever. But not in the minds of our scientists, nor the labs of our company. We’re already in the process of the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth. Our teams have collected viable DNA samples and are editing the genes that will allow this wonderful megafauna to once again thunder through the Arctic,” the company says.
Through gene editing, Colossal scientists will eventually create an embryo of a woolly mammoth. The plan is to place the embryo in an African elephant to take advantage of its size and allow it to give birth to the new woolly mammoth. The eventual goal, the company claims, is to then repopulate parts of the Arctic with the new woolly mammoth and strengthen local plant life with the migration patterns and dietary habits of the beast.
