Colossal Biosciences, based in Dallas, Texas, made an exciting announcement on Wednesday. They claim to have made progress in their mission to revive woolly mammoths by engineering elephants with mammoth-like traits.
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According to George Church, co-founder of Colossal and a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, their scientists have successfully transformed elephant skin cells into an embryonic state. This achievement marks a significant milestone in their research, which will soon be detailed in a research paper to be published on bioRxiv.
The woolly mammoth, as you might guess from the name, is an ancient species of elephant that lived millions of years ago but went extinct a few thousand years ago. Colossal considers itself a "de-extinction" company and is dedicated to bringing back extinct species using genetic and cloning technologies.
The idea of reprogramming cells to behave like embryonic cells isn't new. Researchers demonstrated this ability with mouse skin cells nearly eighteen years ago. These reprogrammed cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells, can potentially develop into various types of animal cells. For Colossal, this means they could create Asian elephants with woolly mammoth characteristics, such as shaggy hair, extra fat, and large tusks.
While Colossal has made progress, they are still far from their ultimate goal of reintroducing herds of woolly mammoths into the wild. As Church analogized, it's like asking Neil Armstrong if he plans to go to Mars when he's just landed on the moon.
Next, the company will use gene editing and other techniques to manipulate cells and create elephants resembling mammoths. However, their objective isn't to recreate mammoths exactly as they were. They aim to incorporate traits that could benefit the new animals, such as resistance to diseases like herpesvirus, which poses a threat to modern elephants.
Despite their advancements, Colossal Biosciences faces ethical concerns and criticism from some scientists. Creating herds of woolly mammoths raises questions about how these animals would fare in today's climate. Additionally, there are worries about the potential misuse of the company's technology. Co-founder Ben Lamm has emphasized transparency as a way to address these concerns and ensure accountability.
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