The Breakthroughs Making De-Extinction Actually Possible
EP 141 of The Logan Bartlett Show: For people building companies - from the people who’ve done it.
We’re now engineering animals back from extinction.
Ben Lamm is the CEO of Colossal Biosciences, the world’s first de-extinction company bringing back the woolly mammoth. With nearly $500M raised and three living dire wolves to show for it, he’s proving that the line between science fiction and startup reality is thinner than we thought.
In my latest conversation, Ben dives into how Colossal actually made dire wolves real again—and the multibillion-dollar opportunity they’re discovering in conservation and biodiversity efforts.
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✉️ Episode Memo
➡️ How do you actually bring back a dire wolf?
The process begins with a search for recoverable dire wolf DNA, which is difficult because most fossils are too degraded to yield usable genetic material. Colossal needs to sequence the full genome six times to fill in the gaps. Once they have enough data, they compare it to the genome of a closely related living species—in this case, the gray wolf. This comparison helps identify the specific genetic differences that matter, allowing them to target gene edits that recreate key dire wolf traits with fewer changes. In this case, they made 20 edits across 14 genes.
➡️ Turning de-extinction into a business
At first, there was no real plan for how Colossal would make money. Now, they're pioneering new markets (like biodiversity credits) and spinning out technology companies. Ben also shares how they’re working with governments to return species like the dodo, measure impact, and monetize restoration in a way that’s auditable and ethical. As deep science with venture-scale upside, Colossal is an example of the commercial creativity that can accompany moonshot innovations.
➡️ How Colossal can augment conservation efforts
Colossal is pioneering a new approach to conservation: not just protecting species, but productionizing them. Instead of waiting decades for endangered populations to recover naturally, Colossal can engineer genetic diversity and accelerate population growth in just a few years. One government, facing a $300M, 23-year path to breed 50 females of a rare cat species, now sees a faster, cheaper solution through Colossal’s tech. Still, none of this is truly effective without preserving habitats as well.
⭐ Trailer
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