Multibillion-dollar biotechnology startup Colossal Biosciences claims to be one step closer to reviving the dodo, a flightless bird that has been extinct since the 17th century.
This futuristic plan is feasible now that the Dallas-based company has decrypted the entire dodo genome.
The dodo bird is the latest in a list of extinct animals that Colossal Biosciences scientists are aiming to revive. Previously, they also announced plans to 're-create' Tasmanian wolves and woolly mammoths of prehistoric times.
But much remains to be done before these birds can be brought back into the world. Scientists of course couldn't recreate the dodo's life from scratch. So they had to find a way to insert dodo-specific genes into live animal embryos.
"The next step is to compare this genetic information with the genes of closely related birds such as the Nicobar dove, and the extinct giant flying pigeon Rodrigues solitaire, to find out the mutations that made the dodo 'dodo,'" said Beth Shapiro, lead geneticist in the project, as quoted from Science Alert, Friday (3/2/2023).
Shapiro said the final plan was to reintroduce the birds to Mauritius, where they lived before being exterminated by humans. A bird created with such an approach will become a hybrid that resembles its ancestor.
"This plan is very challenging," said Ewan Birney, co-director of the European Laboratory for Molecular Biology who was not involved in the project.
Colossal Biosciences has raised another USD 150 million for the project for a total of USD 225 million since 2021. According to Bloomberg, the startup's latest investment value is USD 1.5 billion.
"There are ethical questions when we think about creating species with the intention of releasing them into the wild," said Birney.
"There are people who think that because humans can do something like they should, but aren't sure what the goal is, and whether this is really the best allocation of resources. But what is clear, we have to save the species that we have before they go extinct," Birney said. .
Colossal Biosciences claims that bringing these animals back is not the only goal. This grand scheme also serves as a starting point for conservation research and it is hoped that it will become a useful tool to help animals survive the current biodiversity crisis.