In a Dallas laboratory, scientists are attempting something that once belonged only to myth: the return of a creature erased by human arrival. Colossal Biosciences has mapped nearly the full genetic blueprint of the dodo — gone from Mauritius since 1662 — and built an artificial intelligence to decode what made it distinctly itself. Their method is not cloning but transformation, editing the living cells of the dodo's closest relative toward a form the world has not seen in centuries. The project raises a question as much philosophical as scientific: whether extinction, long treated as irrever
Biotech firm advances dodo resurrection with AI-powered genetic mapping
Extinction doesn't have to be permanent
Mark
So they're not actually cloning a dodo from dodo DNA. They're editing a pigeon to look and act like a dodo. Is that the same thing?
Mimi
Functionally, yes—the goal is a living bird with dodo traits in its native habitat. But you're right to notice the distinction. They're using the Nicobar pigeon as a vessel because it's the closest living relative and because it can already fly, which a resurrected dodo would need to do.
Luke
Wait—would a dodo need to fly? The original dodo was flightless. Are they changing the fundamental nature of what they're bringing back?
Mimi
That's a fair question. The company hasn't explicitly said the bird needs to fly to survive on Mauritius, but keeping flight capability from the Nicobar pigeon probably makes sense for a bird being released into an island ecosystem it hasn't inhabited for 360 years.
Mark
How confident are they that they've identified the right genetic targets? They narrowed it down to 2,300 candidates.
Luke
That's the crucial part they're still working on. They've used AI to narrow the field, but "validating in the lab" is where the real test happens. They haven't proven yet that editing those genes actually produces the traits they expect.
Mimi
Right. And even if the genetics work, there's the breeding problem—getting those edits to pass to the next generation in a bird. Then there's Mauritius itself, which still has the invasive species that killed the original dodos.
Mark
So the science is maybe 30 percent of the problem?
Luke
Maybe less. The ecological and political work—removing invasive predators, getting community buy-in, preparing habitat—could take decades. And they haven't given a timeline for any of it.
Mimi
Which is honest, at least. Lamm acknowledged these are "big hurdles." They're not promising a dodo in five years.
Mark
What strikes me is that this is real work happening now, not science fiction. They have 36 Nicobar pigeons breeding in Texas.
Luke
True. But there's a gap between "we're making progress" and "we know this will work." The announcement is about progress on the genome and the AI tool. The actual resurrection is still theoretical.
The Pulse
- Colossal Biosciences has sequenced 95% of the dodo genome and deployed a custom AI — GenoMorph — to identify the roughly 2,300 genetic switches that gave the bird its iconic beak and face.
- Because ancient DNA degrades into fragments, no perfect dodo genome exists, forcing scientists to reverse-engineer the bird's traits by studying skull and beak development across more than 70 living species.
- The living Nicobar pigeon, the dodo's closest surviving relative, will serve as the genetic canvas — its cells edited to carry dodo traits while preserving its ability to fly and survive in the wild.
- Three towering hurdles remain: confirming which genetic edits actually produce the right traits, passing those edits across generations, and clearing Mauritius of invasive predators before any bird could be released.
- Colossal is already coordinating with Mauritian scientists, conservationists, and government officials, framing habitat restoration as inseparable from the genetic work itself.
In a Dallas laboratory, scientists are attempting something that once belonged only to myth: the return of a creature erased by human arrival. Colossal Biosciences has mapped nearly the full genetic blueprint of the dodo — gone from Mauritius since 1662 — and built an artificial intelligence to decode what made it distinctly itself. Their method is not cloning but transformation, editing the living cells of the dodo's closest relative toward a form the world has not seen in centuries. The project raises a question as much philosophical as scientific: whether extinction, long treated as irreversible judgment, might instead be a condition we can choose to undo.
A Dallas biotech company has announced meaningful progress toward one of science's most audacious ambitions: bringing back the dodo, the flightless bird that disappeared from Mauritius in 1662 after humans — and the rats and predators they carried — dismantled a species that had never learned to fear us.
Colossal Biosciences has now sequenced 95 percent of the dodo's genome and built an AI platform called GenoMorph to do what no direct comparison could: identify which genetic changes produced the bird's most recognizable features. Because ancient DNA degrades and only one near-complete dodo genome exists, GenoMorph instead studied how beaks and skulls develop across more than 70 living bird species, generating a shortlist of roughly 2,300 genetic candidates now being validated in the lab.
The company's strategy centers on the Nicobar pigeon — a shimmering, flight-capable bird from Southeast Asia and the dodo's closest living relative. Colossal plans to edit dodo traits into Nicobar pigeon cells, producing a bird that carries the extinct species' defining characteristics while remaining capable of surviving in the wild. A breeding colony of 36 Nicobar pigeons is already established in Texas.
CEO Ben Lamm has been candid about what lies ahead: confirming which edits matter, successfully introducing many of them into a living bird, and ensuring those changes pass to offspring. The science alone is formidable. But the path also runs through Mauritius itself, where invasive predators would need to be removed and native habitat restored before any bird could be released. Colossal says it is already working with local scientists, conservation groups, and the Mauritian government on that longer preparation.
The dodo is one of six species on Colossal's de-extinction agenda, alongside the woolly mammoth, the thylacine, the dire wolf, the bluebuck antelope, and the moa. Lamm has framed the dodo project as a reckoning with what human arrival has cost the natural world — and a argument that the verdict of extinction need not always be final.
A Dallas biotech company says it has moved closer to bringing back the dodo, the flightless bird that vanished from Mauritius in the 17th century after humans arrived on the island. Colossal Biosciences announced this week that it has completed 95 percent of the dodo's genome sequence and built an artificial intelligence system to pinpoint which genetic changes shaped the bird's most recognizable features—its large hooked beak and distinctive facial structure.
The company's strategy is to take those genetic blueprints and edit them into cells from the Nicobar pigeon, a living Southeast Asian bird that is the dodo's closest surviving relative. Unlike the dodo, the Nicobar pigeon can fly and displays shimmering green and copper plumage. By introducing dodo traits into Nicobar pigeon DNA, Colossal hopes to create a bird that carries the extinct species' defining characteristics while retaining the ability to survive in the wild. The company has already expanded its breeding colony of Nicobar pigeons in Texas to 36 birds to support this research.
The technical challenge is substantial. Ancient DNA degrades over time and breaks into fragments, so no recovered dodo genome is complete. Colossal's new AI platform, called GenoMorph, was built to solve this problem. Rather than comparing multiple dodo genomes to identify what made the species unique—impossible when only one complete genome exists—GenoMorph studies how skulls and beaks develop across more than 70 living bird species. By learning which genetic switches control beak shape and size in those birds, the system generated a shortlist of roughly 2,300 genetic candidates that likely explain the dodo's iconic appearance. Scientists are now validating these targets in the laboratory.
The dodo itself was a ground-dwelling bird about three feet tall and weighing up to 50 pounds. It had never encountered humans before the 16th century, so it showed no fear when people arrived on Mauritius. Invasive species brought by ships—rats and other animals—devastated the bird's population. Humans hunted it as well. The last dodo was recorded in 1662. The species has endured in cultural memory, most famously in Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Colossal has not announced a timeline for hatching a dodo, and the company acknowledges that substantial work remains. Ben Lamm, the company's CEO and co-founder, identified three major hurdles: proving which genetic changes actually matter for the bird's traits, making many of those edits successfully in a living bird, and passing them to the next generation. Beyond the science, Mauritius itself must be prepared. The island's invasive predators would need to be removed and native habitat restored before any dodo could be released. Colossal is already working with Mauritian scientists, conservation groups, and the government to plan what that process might look like.
Colossal is not focused solely on the dodo. The company has six species on its de-extinction agenda: the dodo, the dire wolf (which it says it genetically engineered last year by editing gray wolf genes), the woolly mammoth, the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, the bluebuck antelope, and the moa, a large flightless bird from New Zealand. Lamm framed the dodo project as a statement about extinction itself. "The dodo is the world's best-known symbol of extinction caused by people," he said. "Bringing it back shows extinction doesn't have to be permanent." That message carries weight, though the path from laboratory to Mauritian forest remains long and uncertain.
Notable Quotes
The dodo is the world's best-known symbol of extinction caused by people. Bringing it back shows extinction doesn't have to be permanent.— Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences
The big hurdles ahead are proving which genetic changes really matter, making many of those edits in a bird and passing them to the next generation, and preparing a safe home for dodos on Mauritius.— Ben Lamm
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