Science & Technology

Team working on resurrecting the mammoth offers updated timetable

By T.K. Randall
September 30, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Bing AI / Dall-E 3) Biotechnology startup Colossal Biosciences has become a big name in the 'resurrection' scene in recent years, with scientists aiming to bring extinct species, such as the woolly mammoth, back to life through a combination of modern techniques.

In its latest update, the firm has revealed that recreating the extinct behemoth will be a little more difficult than expected - requiring 150 gene edits instead of 60.

This means that the planned delivery date has been pushed back into the 2030s.

Originally, Colossal Biosciences had planned to create a mammoth calf from modern elephants by 2028.To achieve the firm's goals, scientists will be combining CRISPR gene-editing tools with new AI models, the latter of which will help them to analyze millions of possible genetic combinations.

It's certainly true that the initial 2028 date was a little ambitious and advances in AI technology over the next few years will undoubtedly serve to benefit projects such as this.

Questions will likely still remain, however, over whether animals created through these processes will be true mammoths or simply genetically modified elephants that look like mammoths.

One way or the other, it will be interesting to see the end result.

Source: NDTV

Tags: Mammoth