Chicks hatched from artificial eggs in scientific first - it could a game-changer for bringing extinct animals back to life
New York Post • • world
Key Points:
- Texas-based Colossal Biosciences has successfully hatched 26 healthy chickens from a first-of-its-kind artificial egg, a significant step toward resurrecting extinct birds like the moa and dodo.
- The artificial egg, 3D printed from titanium and lined with a bio-engineered silicone membrane, mimics natural oxygen transfer and allows embryos to develop fully outside a biological shell, overcoming past challenges in avian embryo incubation.
- Unlike mammalian de-extinction efforts, the lack of modern surrogates for giant birds like the moa required innovative technology, as moa eggs were much larger and no current birds can incubate them.
- Colossal is collaborating with New Zealand’s Māori cultural institution Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and investor Peter Jackson to eventually reintroduce the moa into its natural habitat, with potential revival targeted for the early to mid-2030s.
- The company also aims to revive the dodo within the next few years and hopes their work will inspire conservation efforts by demonstrating how new technologies can reverse past species extinctions.