One of the most famous symbols of extinction may be slowly inching its way back to life, and the scientists working on it believe a living dodo-like bird could realistically exist within the next five to seven years. Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based company dedicated to reversing extinction, has announced a significant breakthrough in its dodo project after its team successfully grew primordial germ cells from pigeons, the specialized cells that eventually develop into eggs and sperm, for the very first time in history. The achievement matters enormously because the dodo’s closest living relative is the Nicobar pigeon, and the same technique will now be applied to that bird’s cells, which will then be carefully edited with reconstructed dodo DNA and inserted into chicken embryos acting as surrogates. Scientists are calling it a pivotal and long-awaited step forward in a project that once seemed almost impossible to imagine.
The company has already sequenced the dodo’s genome using DNA preserved in museum specimens and has established a breeding colony of Nicobar pigeons in Texas to serve as the genetic foundation for everything that follows. To prepare for the bird’s eventual return, Colossal has also formed a dedicated advisory committee working with conservationists in Mauritius, the small island nation where dodos lived for thousands of years before disappearing in the late 1600s. The broader goal extends well beyond the dodo itself, with researchers saying the genetic tools being developed in this process could also be used to protect species that are alive and endangered today. Colossal has now raised over $300 million for its de-extinction work, and the dodo project has captured the imagination of scientists and everyday people alike who find something deeply hopeful in the idea that extinction does not always have to be the final word.
