Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, has an audacious vision: to transform extinction from a permanent end to a temporary state. With the successful de-extinction of the dire wolf, Lamm’s vision is becoming reality. As he stated in the company’s announcement, “Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'”
Unlike traditional conservation organizations, Lamm has built Colossal as a technology-driven company with commercial applications. “We’re not a foundation, we’re not a nonprofit, we are not an academic think tank. We are trying to actually develop products and build technologies,” he explained, highlighting the practical approach behind his vision.
Lamm’s strategy has attracted significant investment, with Colossal reaching a $10.2 billion valuation earlier this year. When questioned about this valuation, Lamm maintained that the company was actually “undervalued given its actual scientific progress” – a claim the dire wolf project has helped substantiate.
This vision extends beyond headline-grabbing achievements. Lamm has implemented a strategic approach where “every animal de-extinction event [is paired] with a species preservation event,” connecting the dramatic resurrection of extinct species with practical conservation of endangered ones.
The company’s de-extinction roadmap includes several ambitious targets beyond the dire wolf: the thylacine (also known as the Tasmanian tiger), extinct since the 1930s; the dodo, last seen in the late 1600s; and the woolly mammoth, which disappeared approximately 4,000 years ago.
Progress on these projects is accelerating. According to Lamm, “I think we show, with both [the dire wolf and woolly mouse] projects, that our editing efficiencies are getting better and faster.” For the mammoth project, Colossal has already edited “40s or 50s” of the 85 targeted genes needed to resurrect the species.
From Tech Entrepreneur to Conservation Revolutionary
Ben Lamm’s path to becoming a leader in de-extinction science wasn’t a traditional one. With a background in technology entrepreneurship, Lamm had previously founded and sold multiple successful tech companies before turning his attention to the challenge of extinction. This unconventional background has shaped Colossal’s distinctive approach to conservation biology, combining the agility of a startup with rigorous scientific methodology.
What sets Lamm’s vision apart is its fundamental reframing of extinction itself. Rather than viewing extinct species as permanently lost, his approach treats their genetic information as recoverable data that can be reconstructed, modified if necessary, and expressed in living organisms. This perspective has revolutionized how scientists, conservationists, and investors think about biodiversity loss, transforming it from an irreversible tragedy to a potentially solvable problem.
The business model underlying this vision is equally innovative. While traditional conservation organizations primarily rely on donations and grants, Colossal operates as a for-profit enterprise that develops commercially valuable technologies while pursuing its conservation and de-extinction objectives. The genetic editing tools, reproductive technologies, and computational methods developed for de-extinction projects have applications ranging from human healthcare to agriculture, generating multiple revenue streams that support the company’s more ambitious conservation efforts.
This commercial approach has attracted a diverse range of investors beyond traditional conservation funding sources. In addition to conservation-minded philanthropists, Colossal has secured investments from technology venture capitalists, biotech firms, and even entertainment industry figures, such as George R.R. Martin. This broad base of support provides the substantial resources needed for long-term de-extinction projects while creating accountability through market mechanisms.
Looking forward, Lamm’s vision extends to creating what he calls a “genetic library” of endangered species. By sequencing and preserving the genomes of species at risk of extinction, Colossal aims to ensure that even if a species is lost in the wild, its genetic information remains available for potential future restoration. This forward-thinking approach views biodiversity as humanity’s most valuable inheritance, positioning Colossal at the forefront of efforts to preserve and potentially restore the Earth’s rich tapestry of life.