Meet the Colossal Biosciences Scientists Who Will Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth

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Considered one of the world’s most iconic ancient species, the woolly mammoth has remained the subject of pop culture zeitgeist and scientific intrigue for centuries since it went extinct around 1650 B.C. 

Today, as novel research unlocks new information about the species and novel technology unlocks new approaches to conservation, many are begging the question of whether the mammoth’s revival is within the realm of possibility — and a Texas-based de-extinction company has answered the call.

Scientists at Colossal Biosciences have been working hard to make the woolly mammoth return a reality within the decade, and, with the support of breakthrough technological advancements and a billion-dollar tool kit, believe the species’ future has never been more certain. 

“Our goal is in the successful de-extinction of interbreedable herds of mammoths that we can leverage in the rewilding of the Arctic. And then we want to leverage those technologies for what we’re calling thoughtful, disruptive conservation,” Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal, told CNBC.

Leveraging scientific breakthroughs — from CRISPR gene editing to stem cell technologies and assisted reproduction — here’s a look at a few essential members of Colossal’s woolly mammoth team and the groundbreaking progress they continue to make toward de-extinction.

The Colossally Innovative Mammoth Team

George Church

Considered the father of modern-day genomic sequencing, George Church, geneticist and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, has been at the forefront of de-extinction for over a decade. 

As a child attending the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Church was inspired by “a very intentional simulation of the future.” He told the Harvard Gazette, “I was totally taken in by this facade because they had things like touch screens, where you could draw a picture of anything, and then almost as soon as you punched ‘Go,’ a weaving device would produce a fabric with a repeating motif that you had sketched.

“They had jetpacks and amazing buildings made out of plastic, and the key one for me was they had animatronic robots, like Abraham Lincoln. He would clutch his lapels and I think he would stand up and deliver a speech. I got this illusion as to what science and technology was. I really felt like that’s the way the world should be in 1965.”

Now, 60 years later, Church has created the first direct genomic sequencing method in collaboration with molecular biology pioneer Wally Gilbert. 

Despite this technology serving as a blueprint for the genetic engineering tools now crucial to the woolly mammoth’s de-extinction, Church didn’t become serious about the mammoth’s return until 2008, when a conversation with The New York Times opened him up to the potential scientific insights and ecological benefits that de-extinction could provide.

Beginning his mammoth quest in 2013 with the nonprofit genetic rescue organization Revive & Restore, by 2017 Church’s Harvard lab had leveraged gene editing technology to identify cold-adapted DNA from ancient woolly mammoth samples and perform 45 key edits to the Asian elephant’s genome.

“We’re not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years,” Church said at the time about the prospects of creating a hybrid genome.

Since meeting technological entrepreneur Ben Lamm and co-founding Colossal Biosciences in 2021, Church’s mammoth team has made several cutting-edge advances toward de-extinction, like generating the first de novo mammoth genome using ancient DNA fragments and becoming the first company to derive induced pluripotent stem cells for Asian elephants.

“Colossal is a revolutionary genetics company making science fiction into fact,” Church was quoted in a recent post to Colossal’s Instagram page. “We are creating the technology to build de-extinction science and scale conservation biology, particularly for endangered and at-risk species.”

Beth Shapiro

As a foremost expert on ancient DNA, Beth Shapiro, Ph.D., has spent the majority of her career studying extinction and the science behind reviving ancient species like the woolly mammoth.

Providing a playbook for Colossal’s work with her 2015 publication, How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction, Shapiro has played an integral role in the company since its inception.

Starting as a key adviser and Colossal Biosciences’ lead paleogeneticist, Shapiro has been pivotal in procuring ancient woolly mammoth DNA indispensable to the project’s progression. 

Since transitioning to the role of Colossal’s chief science officer, Shapiro has leveraged her expertise to lead the company’s ancient DNA research, providing fundamental insights to accelerate the de-extinction process and inform modern species conservation. 

“Ancient DNA is a discovery-based science that offers foundational understanding of how species, communities, and ecosystems have evolved over millions of years of habitat and climate change,” Shapiro said in a statement.

“The past can be thought of as a completed evolutionary experiment that can inform how we decide to manage ecosystems today and into the future.”

Paving the Path to 2028

As anticipation builds for the mammoth’s return in approximately three years, Colossal Biosciences and these three scientists continue to pave the way toward de-extinction with their critical scientific and technological advancements. 

While plenty of work remains ahead of the species’ 2028 revival, with its renowned set of scientists, Colossal is confident in its timeline. 

“The technologies definitely exist. The idea is that we have to tweak all of these technologies to make them useful for non-model organisms,” said Shapiro.

“There’s a lot of scientific discovery that has to happen between now and then, and ideally we could predict exactly when we’re going to make discoveries and then we can build on those. But that’s just not the way biology works. Biology is dirty and complicated. It’s not like software.”