A biotech entrepreneur is pursuing what many once thought impossible: bringing the woolly mammoth back to life. But while the idea may sound like it’s straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, the man behind the project insists it’s no Jurassic Park.
Ben Lamm, founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, leads a pioneering effort to resurrect extinct species such as the woolly mammoth and the dodo bird.
And although the premise of reviving long-lost creatures has drawn inevitable comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1993 film, Lamm isn’t buying into the narrative.
Speaking to UNILAD Tech, he said:
"Jurassic Park was a super entertaining, super interesting movie — but it wasn’t real.
People say, ‘Didn’t they see Jurassic Park?’ Yeah, I also saw Blade Runner, I saw Dune, I’ve seen a lot of other things that aren’t real."
Still, he acknowledges the impact the movie had on science education and public imagination:
“One of the great things about Jurassic Park was Mr. DNA — it taught kids and adults that DNA exists, that it’s made up of letters, and that we now have tools to edit and manipulate it. That inspired people.”
In fact, Lamm says, some of the scientists he collaborates with were first drawn to genetics because of that very film — not because they wanted to bring back dinosaurs, but because it sparked their curiosity and excitement about science.
From Mammoths to Mice
The biotech firm hope that the woolly mammoth will one day walk the Earth again (MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images)
Rather than resurrecting dinosaurs, Colossal Biosciences has focused its efforts on more recent extinct animals — starting with the woolly mammoth.
Lamm has previously stated that his team aims to have a living mammoth walking the Earth by late 2028. As part of that effort, they’ve recently engineered a significant milestone: the creation of a “woolly mouse.”
No, they didn’t just plug a mammoth gene into a mouse. Instead, the team isolated specific mammoth traits — like woolly hair and thicker fat layers — and introduced those traits into lab mice. The result? A genetically modified mouse with mammoth-like features.
These “woolly mice” serve a scientific purpose: helping researchers pinpoint the right gene combinations needed to eventually produce a living mammoth.
But Colossal isn’t stopping there. The company also has its sights set on reviving the dodo and the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger.
A Bigger Mission: Conservation
The team of scientists have created the 'woolly mouse' as part of their de-extinction project (Colossal Biosciences)
While the media spotlight often shines on de-extinction, Lamm emphasizes that Colossal’s mission goes far beyond reviving the past.
“Don’t get me wrong, the woolly mouse is pretty damn cute and mammoths are amazing,” Lamm said.
“But people mostly want to talk about de-extinction. The truth is, we’re doing more work in species conservation and preservation than in de-extinction.”
One example is the company’s research into elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) — a disease that kills 20% of elephants annually. Colossal is also working on efforts to help save the Northern White Rhino, and several other projects around the globe have already yielded promising conservation results.
According to Lamm, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“We’re in an extinction crisis. We’re living through the sixth mass extinction, and it’s caused by humans,” he warned.
“We could lose up to 50% of the world’s biodiversity by 2050.”
That’s why Lamm believes the work his team is doing — whether it’s reviving extinct species or protecting endangered ones — is critical.
“We need to build new tools and technologies. We just want to be one small part of the solution.”
