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The Dire Wolf Company's Next Target? A Giant Flightless Bird

Yahoo

15-07-2025

Entertainment
Yahoo

The Dire Wolf Company's Next Target? A Giant Flightless Bird

It has taken no end of imagination for Sir Peter Jackson, the Academy Award winning—and, not incidentally, knighted—director of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, to produce his entire body of cinematic work. It's a quality Jackson has had since he was a small child, when he would conjure up visions of the future. 'When I was a kid [I dreamed of] personal jet packs and flying cars and things,' Jackson said in a recent conversation with TIME. 'One of those other things I always dreamed of was to be able to bring back extinct species.' No-go on the jet packs and the flying cars. But the business of de-extinction? That's very much happening. In April, the Dallas-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences announced that it had successfully brought back the dire wolf, an animal whose howl had not been heard on Earth since the last member of the species vanished more than 10,000 years ago. Three young dire wolves currently live on a 2,000-acre preserve in an undisclosed location to protect them from the media and curiosity-seekers, and Colossal aims to produce more of the animals, with the ultimate goal of perhaps rewilding the species. Read more: The Return of the Dire Wolf The company is not stopping there. Colossal also wants to bring back the dodo, the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger—or thylacine—and more. The goal is both to increase genetic diversity and to hone genetic editing techniques to fortify existing but threatened species. Now, Colossal has announced one more species to add to its growing menagerie: the emu-like moa, a giant flightless bird that stood up to 12 ft. (3.6 m) tall, tipped the scales at more than 500 lbs (230 kg), and once ranged across New Zealand, before it was hunted to extinction by humans about 600 years ago. Like the moa, Jackson is a native New Zealander; 'I am a very proud kiwi,' he says. He is also a Colossal investor and acted as intermediary and facilitator bringing the company into partnership on the moa project with the Ngāi Tahu Research Center, a group that was founded in 2011 to foster intellectual development and conduct scientific studies for and by the Ngāi Tahu tribe of the Indigenous Māori people. 'Some of those iconic species that feature in our tribal mythology, our storytelling, are very near and dear to us,' says Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, who is working on the moa de-extinction project. 'Participation in scientific research, species management, and conservation has been a large part of our activities.' 'This is completely a Māori initiative,' adds Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal. 'We feel like the Colossal team is an extension of the research center and the Māori.' Bringing back the moa would have implications not only for the species itself but for the environment it once inhabited and could again. The bird was what is known as a cornerstone species, one whose grazing and browsing helped prune and shape the jungle flora. Moas were also prolific dispersers of seeds from the plants they ate. The loss of the species not only eliminated that forest-restoring function, but also led to the related extinction of the Haast's eagle, which relied almost exclusively on the moa as prey. Restoring the moa would not bring the eagle back but could help at least partly restore the primal New Zealand woodlands. Bringing back the moa is of a piece with Colossal's other work, which seeks not only to restore vanished species, but to prevent related ones from slipping over the event horizon of extinction. Genetic engineering mastered in the dire wolf project, for example, is being used to edit greater diversity into the genome of the endangered red wolf. Knowledge gained in the effort to bring back the thylacine could similarly help preserve the related northern quoll. 'There are some species of birds on the South Island of New Zealand that are endangered due to the fact that they have reduced gene pools,' says Paul Scofield, senior curator of natural history at Canterbury Museum, author of 20 papers on the moa genome, and one of the scientists working on the de-extinction project. 'Some of the technology that Colossal is working with is very applicable to them.' Read more: Scientists Have Bred Woolly Mice on Their Journey to Bring Back the Mammoth That technology is decidedly challenging. De-extincting the dire wolf involved sequencing ancient DNA collected from fossil specimens and then rewriting the genome of cells from a gray wolf to resemble the extinct species with the lost ancient genes. The edited nucleus was then inserted into a domestic dog ovum whose own nucleus had been removed. That ovum was allowed to develop into an embryo in the lab and then implanted into the womb of a surrogate domestic dog, which carried the dire wolf pup to term.' Bringing back the extinct moa is harder since the incubating will be done outside the body, inside an egg. The first step in this work once again calls for sequencing the genome of the extinct target species and once again turning to a closely related living species—either the tinamou or the emu—for help. Colossal scientists will extract primordial germ cells—or cells that develop into egg and sperm—from a tinamou or emu embryo and rewrite their genome to match key features of the moa. Those edited cells will then be introduced into another embryonic tinamou or emu inside an egg. If all goes to plan, the cells will travel to the embryo's gonads, transforming them so that the females produce eggs and the males produce sperm not of the host species but of the moa. The result will be an emu or tinamou that hatches, grows up, mates, and produces eggs containing moa chicks. 'We've had some pretty big successes so far,' says Lamm. 'We have a breeding colony of tinamous but not emus, but have access to emu eggs through the many breeders out there." None of this means that the work is remotely done. Lamm concedes it could be up to ten years before a moa once again walks New Zealand—though it could come sooner. 'I'd rather underpromise and overdeliver,' he says. For now, Colossal and the Ngāi Tahu Research Center are still working to sequence the moa genome, and to do that they have to get their hands on more DNA samples. Museum specimens of moa remains satisfy some of that demand, but DNA degrades significantly over the centuries and what can't be harvested from private collections has to be dug up in field excavations—with a special eye to long, DNA-rich moa bones like the femur and tibia. 'There are a couple of really significant fossil sites, particularly one in North Canterbury, about an hour north of Christchurch,' says Scofield. 'So far we've sampled more than 60 individuals.' If those don't prove sufficient, he adds, 'we will have to go out and dig some more holes.' None of this comes cheap, and while Lamm does not disclose the exact funding for the moa de-extinction project, he does say it is an eight-figure sum. 'I saw the new Jurassic World movie and someone in it says it costs $72 million to bring back one animal,' he says. 'I was like, 'That's probably accurate.'' That up-front expenditure could pay off handsomely down the line, boosting ecotourism to New Zealand and benefiting Colossal's basic research, which is already showing for-profit potential. So far, Colossal has spun off two new companies: One, called Breaking, uses engineered microbes and enzymes to break down plastic waste. The other, Form Bio, provides AI and computational biology platforms for drug development. But it's the intangibles—the wonder of midwifing a long-extinct species back to the global family of extant ones—that is Colossal's and the Māori's most transcendent work. 'This has an excitement value to it that movies don't have,' says Jackson. 'When I see a living moa for the first time I'm going to be absolutely amazed beyond anything I've ever felt.' Write to Jeffrey Kluger at

Design Was Key When Building This Revolutionary Bioscience Company

Forbes

13-07-2025

Science
Forbes

Design Was Key When Building This Revolutionary Bioscience Company

Ben Lamm Ben Lamm CEO of Colossal Biosciences, Ben Lamm, is focused on is finding a new way, beyond the tried and true strategies of conservation, to stop the extinction of up to fifty percent of all animal species by 2050 — a figure released by the IUCN that could have damaging long term impacts for humanity. Lamm and his team have most famously brought back the mythical direwolf from extinction and created a woolly mouse, but not without a slew of controversy. 'Listen, if everyone liked what we are doing then I would think that we weren't trying hard enough to deliver the breakthrough technology the planet needs,' Lamm said. 'I'm not everyone's flavor, but I don't have to be. The problem is the focus, not making everyone happy,' A board member of the famed Explorer's Club, Lamm is known for his wild ideas which are primarily focused on addressing planetary dangers, bringing what was once considered fringe science to the forefront. 'Everything was fringe science at one point. Microwave ovens; electric cars; the internet,' he explained. 'We don't need to be afraid of fringe ideas. What we should be afraid of is when we stop entertaining fringe ideas and instead double down on only those technologies and solutions that have only worked in the past that we know don't scale or will eventually fail,' And while Lamm revolutionized the world of science and nature while building up his business to become the success it is today, design has been fundamental in each step of the way. 'Design was fundamental to creating Colossal. We knew that if we were successful in our mission, that Colossal had the chance of inspiring the next generation of scientists and conservationists, he explained. 'We really wanted a brand that was approachable to all, fun, educational and full of energy. We settled on this idea that we wanted to build a brand that was old school MTV-meets-Harvard. Since we are creating and evolving life, we wanted that energy to flow through the creative and even colors and copy we chose,' Colossal Biosciences When developing Colossal's digital presence, Lamm and the design team, which consists of an internal creative team and partner agencies, wanted to make something that tied back to CRISPR and genome engineering. 'That is where the Colossal "C" came from. We then really focused on the color palette and messaging to create the 'science streetwear' vibe that the brand evokes,' Lamm said. 'This had to flow through to everything from copy to apparel to web to social and all the content we create,' According to Lamm, part of the job of anyone who wants to educate younger generations on hard science or systems involves distilling the information into core concepts and find a way to present those concepts in a digestible fashion. 'We are now in the attention economy and science has to compete with the latest celebrity gossip, fashion trend or meme,' he explained. 'We need to create content in a way that excites the next generation about science and gives them hope for the future,' Ben Lamm And the company's eye-catching design and inspiring content is working, as hundreds of young people have written to Colossal to express their admiration for the company. 'We get letters from kids inspired by our work — our science, conservation efforts, and commitment to bettering the planet,' explained Dr. Beth Shapiro, Chief Science Officer at Colossal. "I worry about them losing hope when they see how women in science are often treated.' MORE FROM FORBES Forbes This Female Scientist Brought The Dire Wolf Back From Extinction By Emma Kershaw Forbes The Science Of De-Extinction Is Providing Hope For Nature's Future By Emma Kershaw Forbes Billionaire Eugene Shvidler Revealed As The Artist Behind ES23 By Emma Kershaw

After dire wolf's return, Peter Jackson wants to bring back this New Zealand bird

Yahoo

09-07-2025

Entertainment
Yahoo

After dire wolf's return, Peter Jackson wants to bring back this New Zealand bird

Peter Jackson is best known for directing and producing movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films and "The Beatles: Get Back." Now, he's helping direct a project to resurrect long-extinct bird species in New Zealand. An investor in Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences – the private firm that recently brought back a modern-day incarnation of the dire wolf and is working to de-extinct the woolly mammoth – Peter Jackson wanted to see if the biotech company might attempt to spread some of its magic in his home country. "Why aren't you doing the moa, which is a thing that I really care about?" Jackson told USA TODAY he asked the genetics wizards at the company, referencing the species of flightless birds which were indigenous to New Zealand but went extinct about 600 years ago. "I mean, the Tasmanian tiger ... and the mammoth's great, and everything else, but the moa is the thing that I was really passionate about," Jackson said. "And they said, 'sure we'd love to do it'." What is a 'sprite'?: NASA astronaut captures rare phenomenon from 250 miles above Earth Evidence of Jackson's passion about the moa: over the past 20 years or so, the filmmaker and his partner Fran Walsh had amassed a collection of more than 300 moa bones. As Jackson learned more about Colossal – DNA in ancient dire wolf bones helped create a dire wolf genome – he could envision the possible de-extinction of the moa. 'With the recent resurrection of the dire wolf, Colossal has also made real the possibility of bringing back lost species," Jackson said in a press release about the new project, announced Tuesday, July 8. An advisor on the moa project, Jackson helped involve the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. The centre – established in 2011 to support education for the Ngāi Tahu, the main Māori tribe of southern New Zealand – will direct the project, which also includes animal conservation efforts and the biobanking of other native species for preservation. "Every decision we make along the way in the research and the de-extinction is being led by them and governed and supported by them," said Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal, which is also creating a New Zealand subsidiary of the company. "It's been massively rewarding, because it also affords us the ability to get so much deeper in the culture in a way that we've never even done when we worked with other indigenous groups around the world." The South Island Giant Moa, so named because it was indigenous to New Zealand's south island. While there were nine distinct species of the wingless moa – including birds the size of turkeys – the South Island Giant Moa stood out, approaching 12 feet tall with its neck outstretched. Considered the world's tallest bird before it went extinct, "it's part of a family of large birds that once inhabited our ancestral tribal territories," said Kyle Davis, a Ngāi Tahu archaeologist who has helped search for moa fossils as part of the project. The Giant Moa was "gigantic," weighing up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds), Paul Scofield, an moa expert and advisor on the project, told USA TODAY. "It was heavily covered in feathers from the head and even down the legs. It had really very massive feet, far more massive than any bird," said Stevens, the senior curator of natural history at Canterbury Museum, which has the world's largest collection of moa bones. A kick from the moa could be deadly, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, which noted the moa fed on seeds, fruits, leaves, and grasses, and laid one large egg of up to 7 inches in diameter. Experts say there were about 150,000 of the tall birds when the Polynesian settlers came to south New Zealand. Within about 150 years, they were extinct, said Mike Stevens, the director of the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, in the press release. 'During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, moa provided meat for sustenance, and bones and feathers for tools and decoration," especially in Te Wāhipounamu (the official Māori name for southwest New Zealand), he said. The Giant Moa remains a symbol for the people of the south island and its potential resurrection fits within the country's many ongoing conservation efforts including the protection and resurgence of the kākāpō, a flightless parrot. Research into de-extinction of the moa will likely shed light on New Zealand's ecological past. "It's really going to answer so many questions about prehistoric New Zealand," Scofield said. "Every single thing we discover about this amazing animal is really going to help flesh out what New Zealand was before humans arrived." So far, Colossal has created a genome of the tinamou, thought to be the closest living relative of the moa. While there's a lot of work ahead, Jackson envisions a natural environment for the Giant Moa to roam when it returns, he said in a video posted on YouTube about the project. "We're now at the point where being extinct isn't really the end of the story." This story has been updated with new information. Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@ What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extinct New Zealand bird latest species Colossal wants to bring back