Beyond Dire Wolves: Colossal’s Vision for Future De-Extinction
The successful revival of dire wolves marks a pivotal milestone in Colossal Biosciences’ ambitious de-extinction roadmap. While the birth of Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi represents a historic achievement, it also validates the company’s technological approach and accelerates its plans for reviving other extinct species. As Colossal moves forward from this breakthrough, its vision extends to several iconic extinct animals whose return could reshape our understanding of extinction and conservation.
The Woolly Mammoth: Next on the Horizon
With the dire wolf achievement secured, Colossal’s next major target is the woolly mammoth, with a stated goal of reintroduction by 2028. This timeline, once considered highly optimistic, now appears increasingly feasible given the successful multiplex gene editing demonstrated in the dire wolf work.
Colossal has already shown progress toward this mammoth goal. In early 2025, the company demonstrated its approach by creating “38 ‘woolly mice'” – laboratory mice edited with mammoth genes to grow shaggy coats as a proof of concept. According to TIME magazine, Colossal “plans to use similar genetic engineering to edit the genome of the Asian elephant—the mammoth’s closest living kin—to express mammoth genes for cold resistance, including genes for a shaggy coat, cold-adapted hemoglobin, and subcutaneous fat.”
The successful dire wolf revival, with even more genetic edits than the woolly mice (20 vs. 8), suggests that Colossal’s mammoth timeline may indeed be achievable. Dr. George Church, Colossal co-founder and Harvard geneticist, notes that the capability for multiplex gene editing “is growing exponentially,” suggesting accelerated progress toward the mammoth goal.
The Tasmanian Tiger and Dodo: Additional Targets
Beyond the woolly mammoth, Colossal has indicated plans to revive the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) and dodo thereafter. These species represent different taxonomic groups – a marsupial mammal and a flightless bird – requiring adaptation of de-extinction techniques across evolutionary diverse lineages.
The thylacine work is already underway, with Andrew Pask, a Professor at the University of Melbourne, leading Colossal’s Thylacine program. Pask observes that the dire wolf achievement “demonstrates the awesome potential for advances in genetic engineering and reproductive technologies to recreate lost diversity. Apex predators are critical to establishing entire ecosystems and their loss from the landscape can have profound impacts on biodiversity.”
This focus on ecological roles reflects Colossal’s broader vision of de-extinction as a tool for ecosystem restoration rather than merely technological showmanship. Each target species once fulfilled specific ecological functions, and their revival could potentially contribute to restoring ecological processes disrupted by their extinction.
From Proof of Concept to Conservation Tools
As Colossal advances its de-extinction roadmap, the company increasingly emphasizes how the technologies developed can benefit conservation of endangered species. The dire wolf revival has already demonstrated this application through the successful cloning of critically endangered red wolves using the same “non-invasive blood cloning” approach.
Colossal scientists are now working on applying similar techniques to the pink pigeon – a bird species suffering from severe genetic bottlenecks. By introducing greater genetic diversity into pink pigeon embryos through edited primordial germ cells, they aim to improve the species’ health and viability.
This approach could become a new paradigm in conservation biology: using genomic techniques developed through de-extinction research to enhance genetic diversity and resilience in endangered populations. The dire wolf is a dramatic showcase of “resurrection biology,” but the underlying technologies may prove even more crucial as tools to prevent extinctions in the first place.
Building Financial Support for Biodiversity Technology
Colossal’s de-extinction vision has demonstrated remarkable success in attracting investment to biodiversity technology. In January 2025, even before the wolf announcement, the company raised an additional $200 million in financing to accelerate its de-extinction projects.
This influx of funding represents new capital directed toward biodiversity preservation that might not otherwise be available to traditional conservation organizations. By framing de-extinction as both scientifically groundbreaking and ecologically beneficial, Colossal has created a unique investment category that bridges technology and conservation interests.
The successful dire wolf revival provides proof of concept that will likely galvanize further support for the company’s broader vision.
As Ben Lamm, Colossal CEO, stated upon the dire wolf announcement: “This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works.”
Conservation-Centered Vision
While de-extinction captures headlines, Colossal consistently positions its work within a conservation framework. Their vision extends beyond headline-grabbing species revivals to developing a suite of genetic tools that can transform conservation biology more broadly.
This perspective reframes de-extinction not as a distraction from traditional conservation but as a complementary approach that expands the toolkit available for biodiversity preservation. By integrating cutting-edge biotechnology with established conservation priorities, Colossal aims to create new possibilities for protecting and restoring Earth’s biological diversity.
A New Paradigm for Extinction
Ultimately, Colossal’s vision represents a fundamental shift in how we conceptualize extinction itself. Rather than viewing extinction as a permanent endpoint, the company’s work suggests it may instead be a transitional state that can potentially be reversed through appropriate technological interventions.
As one wildlife expert quoted by Colossal put it, seeing the pale wolf pups romp again is “like a reawakening – a return of an ancient spirit to the world,” reminding us that with ingenuity and care, “extinction may no longer have to be forever.”
This reconceptualization does not diminish the urgency of preventing extinctions in the first place – indeed, the complex process required for de-extinction underscores how much simpler it is to protect species before they disappear. However, it does offer hope that even when conservation efforts fail, humanity may eventually develop the capability to restore what has been lost.
Through this integration of cutting-edge genetic science, ecological understanding, and conservation application, Colossal’s vision extends far beyond the specific species targeted for revival. It represents a new approach to biodiversity preservation that leverages 21st-century biotechnology to address one of conservation’s most fundamental challenges: the permanence of extinction itself.
