What is known about the company that “recreated” the extinct wolf

A Dallas -based biotechnology start Up in the United States dominated the news by “recreating” a kind of wolf extinct for 12,000 years.

THE Colossal Biosciences Search “Redefine the extinction and establish patterns for science behind it, ”according to the official website.

Still according to the company’s page, it promotes A functional application of advanced genetic editing technology designed to reconstruct lost megafauna DNA and other creatures that have had a measured impact on ecosystems.

Founded by businessman Ben Lamm and the Geneticist at Harvard University George Church in 2021, Colossal has a contribution of $ 435 million (about $ 2.6 billion).

The company’s advice has several scholars in the area, as well as celebrities such as Chris Hemsworth, George RR Martin, Joe Manganiello, Steve Aoki and Tom Brady.

In addition to the wolves, the intention of the American startup is to reverse the extinction of lanade mammakes of the tilacinos (known as tigers-of-tasmania) and from dodot . To accomplish this feat, scientists use old DNA, cloning, and genetic editing technology to alter animal genes that still inhabit, our planet.

Mammoth

The target mammoth of Colossal Biosciences lived on Earth during the glacial era and its closest living relatives are the Asian elephants. They were extinct about 4,000 years ago. According to the company, the goal is that this is the case of prominence in its extinction reversal project.

The company states that by bringing them back, it can enable the development of new tools and techniques that contribute to saving threatened modern elephants, understanding the genetic basis of animal adaptation to cold, and boosting advances in the multiplex edition of the genome-a technique used to edit multiples genes at the same time in one experiment.

“When we lose them [os mamutes]We lost the ecosystem services they provided. By bringing them back, we could help restore an unbalanced world for us humans. We now have a chance to start reversing the tide of destruction and put ourselves towards a renewed and regenerative world, ”said Ph.D. Kenneth J. Lacovara, a member of Colossal’s executive advisory board, on the company’s website.

Tiger

Still, the startup claims that it wants to bring tilacino-or tiger-of-tasmania-back from extinction.

The last specimen of the species in nature was killed between 1910 and 1920 and the last in captivity died in 1936 – two months after the Australian government gave the status of protection to the threatened group.

According to colossal, the extinction of tilacin caused a degradation that occurs when predators of the top of the food chain are removed from an ecosystem leading to a cascade effect of ecological consequences on the groups below the species.

To recover them, the company’s idea is to use young embryos and animals preserved in alcohol and other stabilizers by scientists in the past.

Dodot

The bird that lived in the Mauritius islands, an island country in the Indian Ocean, were decimated after the arrival of the Dutch in the territory and the introduction of other species such as rats, goats, pigs, deer and monkeys, as they ate the eggs of the bird.

The date of extinction of these animals is controversial, as there are reports of sighting in 2003, but researchers David Roberts and Andrew Solow claim that the last specimen of the species must have died around 1690.

Colossal is working in partnership with the NGO Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF, Foundation of the Wildlife of Mauritius) to restore the original habitats of the dodo, relive this endangered species and support the animal’s reintroduction plans in wildlife.

Remember the case of the Terrible Wolf

Extinct animals are recovered thanks to science

With information from Giovana Christ, from CNN

This content was originally published in The Known About the company that “recreated” the extinguished wolf on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil