Colossal Biosciences, a Texas startup founded in 2021, has made a significant advancement in its efforts to bring back the dodo bird through de-extinction.
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The company successfully cultivated primordial germ cells from pigeons, a key step in the process.
Colossal plans to use gene-edited surrogates, such as chickens injected with Nicobar pigeon cells, to eventually breed dodos.
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The company aims to reintroduce thousands of genetically diverse dodos into rat-free areas of Mauritius, where the birds were last seen in 1662.
Despite criticism from some biologists, Colossal has raised $120 million in funding and is valued at $10.3 billion.
As Colossal trumpets on Facebook, “the path to dodo de-extinction has been forged.”
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