The CEO of Colossal, a startup that aims to use genetic processing techniques to reduce extinct species, including the woolly Mammoet, assured the public at SXSW that the company has no plans to create a real-life Jurassic Park-other was some doubt.
“Modern preservation does not work […] And we need a ‘de-Extinct’ tool kit, “said Colossal CEO Ben Lamm during an interview on stage Sunday in Austin, who responded to questions from actor and board member Joe Manganiello. “I think we have a moral obligation and an ethical obligation to pursue technologies [that] Loosen some things that we [as a species] have done. “
Colossal is working on reducing the Dodo Bird and Thylacin, generally known as the Tasmanian tiger, as well as the woolly mammoth, Lamm added. But the extinction of dinosaurs would not be possible due to the lack of useful sources of Dinosaurus-DNA.
Colossal, founded in Dallas, founded in 2023 by Lamm and George Church, has stated that by 2028 it wants to have woolly Mammoeth hybrid calves, which it hopes to re-introduce to the Arctic Tundra-Habitat. The company also leads a research project to return Tasmanian Tiger Joeys to their original Tasmanian and wider Australian Habitat after a period of imprisonment.
That vision has resonated with investors. Colossal has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in risk capital and it is currently appreciated at $ 10.2 billion.
Colossal has spun two companies aimed at specific applications, including a third party that has not yet been announced. Lamm also said that he thinks that “billions of dollars” should be made of “wilding” species and carbon coverings.
One of the recent controversial projects of Colossal is the gene edited ‘Woolly Mouse’, a type of mouse with mutations inspired by woolly mammoths. The mice, which show long, rugged, tawny-tinted coat, were developed using a mix of mammoth-like and well-known mouse growth mutations.
Some experts have spoken to skepticism about the new species, with the argument that the experiment was more about mouse genetics than a breakthrough in de-dying.
Lamm, however, said that the project of Colossal on Wooly Mammoth Research validated.
“It showed us that, in the first instance, our edits that we made for the Mammoet were the right edits,” Lamm said.
Lamm touched AI during the interview and said he believes that the combination of access to computing, AI and synthetic biology will be the most “dangerous” set of technologies that the world has seen. But he also painted an idealistic picture of the future, in which he predicts that in particular the synthetic biology preface will lead to treatments for cancer, means to remove plastics from the oceans and the widespread availability of clean water.
“We will have real rule about life, where we can eradicate species that are invasive or we can bring lost species,” said Lamm, “and I think we also have the opportunity to develop plants – not only for food consumption, but you will be able to develop plants with different species of proteins.”
Lamm also said that he anticipates humanity “in the next 20 years” will achieve a long -term escape speed “, so that they add years to the average expectation of human life and makes immortality a theoretical possibility.
In addition to the human lifespan, Lamm de-Extestation possibly said a “project scale on Manhattan” to support a backup of endangered species specifically in “Bio-Kluizen” to create stem and egg cells. Lamm said he spoke with “a country that looks enthusiastic about it” – without mentioning names.
On the subject of employees in the public sector, Lamm said that colossal ‘quarterly’ meet US government agencies and that the government has invested in colossal, presumably through subsidies.
