Startup Colossal Biosciences aims to use gene editing techniques to regain wool mammoths and other extinct species. Recently, the company has achieved a major milestone. Last year, they produced Asian elephant stem cells, the closest living relative of the mammoth, and this month they published photos of genetically modified mice with a long mammoth-like coat. These advances take a major step towards their goal of using mammoths to combat climate change by restoring the ecosystems of the Arctic grasslands, according to the company’s founders, including Harvard University and MIT professor George’s Church. The church too claim Colossal’s wool mammoth program helps protect endangered species like elephants in Asia, saying, “We’re injecting money into our conservation efforts.”
In other words, scientific advancements are what Colossal brings in their lab, bringing positive changes from the tropical to the Arctic and from the soil to the atmosphere.
Colossal’s Jurassic Park ambition captures the imagination of the public and investors, and gives its latest review 10 billion dollars. And it appears that the company’s research has brought about some technological advancements. However, I argue that the broader efforts to portray mammoths are clearly misguided as long as conservation efforts progress. Ultimately, Colossal’s efforts will not end up helping wild elephants or saving the climate. They are about making creatures for human sights, paying insufficient attention to the cost and opportunity costs of human and animal life.
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