Colossal Biosciences, the genetic engineering startup striving to carry again extinct species and defend endangered ones, has introduced on James Reed as director for a multi-year documentary sequence. The episodes will chronicle the Colossal’s makes an attempt to revive species just like the woolly mammoth and the dodo chicken.
A view of an enormous mammoth utterly assembled. (Photograph by Ana Fernandez/SOPA Photos/LightRocket by way of Getty Photos)
Reed labored on the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher,” a movie that adopted a filmmaker’s bond with an octopus over a yr. On this new enterprise with Colossal, Reed and his producing associate Matt Houghton may have unique entry to Colossal’s efforts over the subsequent few years and take viewers behind the scenes.
The docuseries will provide an inside have a look at Colossal’s de-extinction tasks and its progressive conservation know-how that goals to guard endangered species, reminiscent of elephants and Northern white rhinos. The sequence may also study how Colossal is utilizing AI to know animal conduct and the potential affect of rewilding.
Reed, Houghton, and Colossal will all work along with Jillian Share for Teton Ridge Leisure and govt producer Michael Dougherty on the venture. Teton Ridge Leisure will financially back the primary section of manufacturing, with the last word purpose of discovering a distribution associate.
Associated: This Meatball Is Mammoth. Seriously, It’s Made From the Prehistoric Woolly Elephant.
It is unclear how a lot the docuseries will price and when it’s going to air at the moment.
Colossal was shaped in 2021 round the concept bringing again extinct species might enhance life at present. The woolly mammoth, for instance, could help fight climate change by limiting the greenhouse gases launched from the Arctic as a consequence of world warming. Bringing again the mammoth will train scientists extra about gene modifying, which might assist with real-life enhancements like stopping illness in human beings. Colossal has raised $225 million in whole funds, bringing its valuation to over $1 billion.
In a 2021 interview with Entrepreneur, Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm acknowledged that the corporate’s objective was to have its first woolly mammoth calves inside six years. The plan is to take pores and skin cells from Asian elephants and put them into stem cells with frozen mammoth DNA to type an embryo. The embryo would then be positioned in a man-made womb in a lab or carried to time period by a surrogate mom.
By recreating the woolly mammoth, Lamm acknowledged that Colossal would have a “de-extinction toolkit” that the corporate might additionally use to protect critically endangered species.
A priority leveled towards the startup is that issues might go incorrect because it experiments with bringing again animals. With regards to potential dangerous actors or antagonistic penalties, Lamm stated “so long as we’re clear, individuals can maintain us accountable.”
