On a quest to revive the woolly mammoth, Colossal Biosciences has created a woolly mouse

Colossal Biosciences, a company with the ambitious goal of resurrecting the woolly mammoth by 2028, is making significant progress. They have successfully genetically engineered mice to have mammoth-like fur as evidence of their advancements.

The process involved identifying mouse versions of mammoth genes and using CRISPR to edit mouse embryos. These edited embryos were then implanted into surrogate mouse mothers, resulting in the creation of woolly mice with fur similar to that of a mammoth.

The company believes that the woolly coat will allow the engineered mice to survive in cold climates. However, they must first obtain approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee before conducting further experiments to test the mice’s cold tolerance.

In addition to their work on the woolly mammoth, Colossal Biosciences aims to bring back other extinct species such as the Tasmanian tiger and the dodo bird.

While the company has received positive feedback from investors, some experts, like Professor David Gold, caution that the goal of resurrecting the woolly mammoth by 2028 may be overly optimistic. Gold points out the significant challenges involved in recreating an extinct species and highlights the technical hurdles that lie ahead.

Despite these challenges, Colossal’s creation of the woolly mouse is considered a significant achievement for their de-extinction mission. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Lamm, describes it as a “watershed moment” and notes the unexpected “adorability factor” of the engineered mice.