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Science & Technology

De-extinction firm attracts $150M in funding to resurrect the dodo

By T.K. Randall
February 2, 2023 · Comment icon 12 comments



Could the dodo walk the Earth again ? Image Credit: Roelant Savery
Texas-based firm Colossal Biosciences is already working on a way to bring back the long-extinct woolly mammoth.
The dodo, a flightless bird that once inhabited the island of Mauritius, is perhaps the best known example of a species hunted to extinction by man - a creature that has since become synonymous with the idea that our activities on this planet can have dire consequences for other species.

The first reported encounter with a dodo was by Dutch sailors in 1598 and by 1662 the species had been completely wiped out due to hunting and the destruction of its habitat.

Now, though, scientists at Colossal Biosciences have announced their intention to bring the dodo back from the dead by editing the DNA of the extinct bird's closest living relative - the Nicobar pigeon.
If this can be achieved, the modified cells could then be inserted into unhatched eggs, producing offspring that may later go on to lay dodo eggs themselves.

Not everyone, however, is particularly sold on the idea of bringing back extinct species.

"There's a real hazard in saying that if we destroy nature, we can just put it back together again - because we can't," said ecologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University.

"And where on Earth would you put a woolly mammoth, other than in a cage?"

Source: Sky News | Comments (12)


Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #3 Posted by Robotic Jew 2 months ago
Comment icon #4 Posted by Tatetopa 2 months ago
Can't wait, I hear they are better than chicken.
Comment icon #5 Posted by Cho Jinn 2 months ago
“And where on Earth would you put a woolly mammoth, other than in a cage?" Stuart Pimm, lettered ecologist and tumbling straw man advocate.  Can he identify any single person who suggests putting or keeping wooly mammoths in cages?  Idiot.
Comment icon #6 Posted by Tatetopa 2 months ago
Back on the plains of the Central US where it used to graze in an enormous Pleistocene Park. 
Comment icon #7 Posted by joc 2 months ago
Damn you Myles!!  Damn you!  3 minutes and 48 precious seconds of my life gone!  just gone!  Damn you!
Comment icon #8 Posted by newbloodmoon 2 months ago
I can see a “Church of Dodo” come out of this. But hey if they do bring it back would that church have a leg up on the Christians ? Because they could at least say their guy came back.
Comment icon #9 Posted by DanL 2 months ago
You could allow them to be free in some of the huge national lands that are all over the country. If nothing else send them to Texas we have a lot of places where they would fit in pretty well. They would be great in one of our big drive -through zoos and safaris. Anything that we killed into extinction, if possible, we should bring them back.
Comment icon #10 Posted by curiouse 1 month ago
Just DONT DO IT leave it.
Comment icon #11 Posted by Myles 1 month ago
I would say northern Canada.  
Comment icon #12 Posted by Poncho_Peanatus 27 days ago
Im cool with this and yes there are plenty of spaces where they can be. So bring them back....


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