Colossal Biosciences Hatches Chicks Using Artificial Eggshells, Advancing De-Extinction Goals
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Biotech startup Colossal Biosciences has successfully hatched healthy chicken chicks from a 3D-printed artificial eggshell, a key proof of concept for its plans to resurrect extinct birds like the dodo and the giant moa. The company developed a plastic egg with a membrane that allows oxygen exchange, enabling normal embryo development. This technology is necessary because no living bird can gestate embryos for these extinct species.
Facts First
- Colossal Biosciences hatched healthy chicks using a 3D-printed plastic artificial eggshell as a proof of concept.
- The artificial eggshell features a membrane designed to allow oxygen in while preventing leaks.
- More than two dozen chickens have been born from the company's artificial eggs to date.
- The technology is a step toward resurrecting extinct birds like the dodo and the giant moa, whose eggs are too large for any living bird to gestate.
- Colossal is developing larger artificial eggs to accommodate the embryos of target species like the moa, whose eggs are approximately the size of a football.
What Happened
On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced it had successfully hatched healthy chicken chicks using a 3D-printed artificial eggshell. The company developed a plastic egg with a honeycomb structure and a membrane that allows oxygen exchange. Scientists transferred fertilized chicken egg contents into the specially designed container one or two days after laying, placed them in an incubator, and added calcium, resulting in normal chicks that could walk away from the artificial system. More than two dozen chickens have been born this way to date.
Why this Matters to You
This development represents a significant step in biotechnology that could one day allow scientists to bring back extinct species, potentially restoring lost biodiversity. For you, this could mean future generations might see species like the dodo in conservation settings, which may reshape our understanding of nature and humanity's role in it. The underlying technology for manipulating embryos in artificial environments could also lead to advances in medical research and agriculture, though these applications are speculative at this stage.
What's Next
Colossal Biosciences is now developing artificial eggs large enough for the embryos of its target species, the dodo and the giant moa. The plan to recreate dodos involves using gene-edited cells from the Nicobar pigeon, the dodo's closest living relative. For the giant moa, whose eggs are about 80 times the size of a chicken's, embryos may be developed from emu cells. The company is also working on creating artificial wombs to gestate mammals like the woolly mammoth, another of its de-extinction goals.