Colossal's CEO is a startup that aims to use gene editing techniques to regain extinct species, including wool mammoths, and has assured SXSW viewers that the company has no plans to create an actual Jurassic Park.
“Modern conservation is not working […] “We'll need a “passive” toolkit,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm responded to questions from actor and executive Joe Manganiello in a Sunday stage interview in Austin. “I think we have a moral obligation and an ethical obligation to pursue technology. [that] Revert some of ours [as a species] I did it. ”
Colossal is working to regain the dodo birds and tylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger. However, the absence of a usable source of dinosaur DNA made it impossible for dinosaurs to disappear.
Dallas-based Colossal, founded in 2023 by Lamb and George's Church, said he would like to have a wool mammoth hybrid curve by 2028. The company is also leading a research project to restore Tasmanian Tiger Joeys to its wider Australian habitat in the original Tasmania after a period of capture.
That vision resonates with investors. Colossal has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital and is currently valued at $10.2 billion.
Colossal spun out two companies focusing on specific applications. Lamb also said he believes there are “billions of dollars” made from “restructuring” of seeds and carbon sequestration.
One of Colossal's most recent famous projects is the gene-edited “wool mouse,” a mouse species carrying a mutation inspired by the wool mammoth. The mice exhibiting long, shaggy, tan fur were developed using a mix of mammoth-like mouse hair growth mutations.
Some experts have expressed skepticism about the new species, claiming that the experiment is more about mouse genetics than detone breakthroughs.
However, Lamb said the project examined Colossal's research on wool mammoth research.
“In the beginning, I showed that the edit I was making for the mammoth was the correct one,” Lamb said.
Colossal Biosciences – Wool Mouse Image Credit: Giant Biosciences
During the interview, Lamb said he thought the combination of access to computing, AI and synthetic biology would be the set of the most “dangerous” technologies the world has seen. However, he also painted idealistic pictures of the future, predicting advances in synthetic biology in particular would lead to cancer treatments, a means to remove plastic from the ocean, and widespread availability of clean water.
“We have real dominance throughout our lives, where we can eradicate invasive species and regain lost species. We also believe we have the ability to design plants as well as food consumption, but we can design plants with a variety of different types of proteins.”
Lamb also predicted that humanity will “achiev in life expectancy rates” over the next 20 years, adding years to the average life expectancy, making immortality a theoretical possibility.
Beyond human longevity, detension requires the creation of STEM and egg cells in order for “Manhattan project-scale projects” to back up species that are particularly at risk to “biovaults.” Lam said he spoke to “a country that he thinks is excited.” Without naming his name.
On the subject of public sector work, Lamb said Colossal met “quarterly” with US government agencies, and that the government probably invested in Colossal through grants.