Scientists are 1 step closer to bringing back the dodo
Remember the dodo? That famously extinct bird from Mauritius?
Scientists at Colossal Biosciences just made a big leap toward reviving it—they've managed to grow key reproductive cells from pigeons, which could eventually help create new dodo eggs and sperm.
The ultimate goal: bring the dodo back after nearly 400 years.
Gene-edited chickens as surrogates
The team is using gene-edited chickens as surrogates and borrowing cells from Nicobar pigeons, the dodo's closest living relatives.
If all goes well, we could see a living dodo in about five to seven years, with plans to release them into safe habitats in Mauritius in about five to seven years.
There are challenges and critics—some worry this distracts from current conservation needs—but Colossal isn't slowing down, backed by $120 million in funding.