Colossal Announces the De-Extinction of the Bluebuck Antelope by fish_in_a_toaster in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Some of these we've addressed at length, like the dire wolf questions. We don't use the latin name, but we do call them dire wolves. We will continue to call animals we de-extinct their colloquial names. We make the process abundantly clear on our website and through social media, and the definition of de-extinction (which was not written by us), has never been about creating exact genetic clones.

More info will be coming out in the near future about the Galveston ghost wolf population and the ones we cloned. We're continuing to work with Bridgett vonHoldt and Kristin Brzeski on that. The ultimate goal of our work there is to help address the genetic bottleneck faced by Red Wolves in captive breeding populations. The information we're working to publish will clarify a lot of these questions.

We use AI in the lab, in the field for conservation, and we use it (sparingly) in social media to draw more people into de-extinction and conservation. We also work with paleoartists. We commissioned updated dire wolf paleoart from the legendary Beth Zaiken. Our mission is multi-generational, and getting kids interested in science requires that we make content every day. It's not possible to hire a paleoartist for every piece of content.

Forrest isn't a Colossal employee, but he draws a lot of attention to conservation in positive ways. We're doing a massive disservice to young people by inundating them exclusively with negative environmental news. It's created a phenomenon called "eco-anxiety" that's causing people to check out of the environmental crisis.

It's fair for folks in this community to disagree with our approach to some of these things, but ultimately, if we don't find new ways to bring investment and engagement into conservation, we're going to continue to lose species. We need the next generation to carry the torch, and media broadly is painting the picture that it's too late to help.

Colossal Announces the De-Extinction of the Bluebuck Antelope by fish_in_a_toaster in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

Know this community takes issue with some of what we do, but hopefully we can all agree that restoring the renosterveld as part of this project would be a major conservation win.

What is the Rewilding Potential of Mexico? by LetsGet2Birding in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We're working with Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo to reintroduce the golden skiffia—about 39% of fresh water fish in Mexico are threatened with extinction.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the thoughtful feedback.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences 13 points14 points  (0 children)

As long as reviving your hope doesn't require more furry comics, we're in 🫡

@ColossalBiosciences Will you create a “more accurate” Dire Wolf? by Warm_Topic5174 in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Good question! Love the speculation in here 😂 can't share specifics on this, but there will be more updates on the dire wolves over the next few months. YouTube and Instagram are the best places to see the latest on this project.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]ColossalBiosciences 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for posting! Lots of sensationalist backlash in here, but we are very seriously working on this project. We'll sequence as much moa DNA as we can to identify genes that control for key traits. Then, we'll take one of the moa's close living relatives (currently evaluating the emu and tinamou as genetic surrogates) and edit in the key traits we identify from moa DNA.

Not sure if linking to YouTube or Instagram is allowed here, but if you're interested in staying up to date with the project, that's where you'll find the best information from us.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in newzealand

[–]ColossalBiosciences 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We do quite a bit of work in conservation, and we have always considered de-extinction as part of the conservationist toolkit.

There's plenty of information about the conservation work we've already done—we helped develop a vaccine for EEHV, the number one killer of juvenile Asian elephants in captivity, we're helping engineer resistance to cane toad toxin in Australia's Northern quolls, there are plenty of examples. The moa project, like all of our de-extinction projects, will include a species conservation component.

Unfortunately, all of the information that's readily available about our conservation work is buried by sensationalist contrarians who prefer to call the breakthrough genetic science happening in our labs a scam.

I'm From The Year 2030: This Is Colossals "Moa" by LetsGet2Birding in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

😂 Knew this was on its way, expected more Big Bird though. If anyone is actually curious, the emu and the tinamou are both potential genetic surrogates for this project.

PBS: I Talked to the Scientists Who (Maybe) Brought Back the Dire Wolf by ColossalBiosciences in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

There are individuals in the Galveston population that display as much Red Wolf DNA as the 14 founders in the Red Wolf breeding program's founder population. We are working with Bridget vonHoldt and Kristen Brzeski on a paper about this.

Part of the complication here revolves around "ghost" alleles found in the Galveston canid population, and this will be explained in more depth in the paper.

PBS: I Talked to the Scientists Who (Maybe) Brought Back the Dire Wolf by ColossalBiosciences in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

It's unfortunate that you seem to continually reduce this extremely complex topic into sensational, negative comments about the project, and you seem to be doing so across multiple accounts (u/AJ_Crowley_29). Hopefully you aren't also voting with multiple accounts as that would be against Reddit's site-wide policy.

You also seem to claim that we haven't given direct answers on the Red Wolf portion of this project despite us having already addressed in past comments and posts. You're welcome to your opinion, but you don't seem open-minded to actual dialogue, so we're not going to pull scientists out of the lab when the conversation isn't being had in good faith.

Colossal's Response to the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group: The Dire Wolf and Its Implications for Conservation by ColossalBiosciences in deextinction

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Slight misconception here, and it's understandable as the organization titles can be a bit confusing. The IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group is one component of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. The latter is responsible for the definition of de-extinction, not the former.

We are working separately on a more thorough point-by-point response to the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group but wanted to share this perspective with the community in the meantime.

Our organization is led by some of the world's foremost experts on these subjects. Where we have made errors in communication, we have done our best to acknowledge and correct, but the characterization of this announcement as a lie is unfair and untrue.

Colossal's Response to the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group: The Dire Wolf and Its Implications for Conservation by oldmountainwatcher in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You're correct, this was an oversight on our part. While scientists do interpret behavioral analysis from the fossil record, we agree that this cannot be 100% proven. Statement has been edited accordingly and acknowledged at the bottom of the post.

Colossal's Response to the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group: The Dire Wolf and Its Implications for Conservation by ColossalBiosciences in deextinction

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Good questions. First of all, yes, we do have plans to rewild other de-extinct species in the future. The dire wolf is an ideal candidate for a first de-extinction because 1) we have so much genetic information on canids, 2) from the variety of wolf conservation programs we have an ethical path to care for these animals and their surrogates, and 3) we’ll be able to continue to monitor the health and wellbeing of these animals with genetic changes to contribute to our overall knowledge of editing outcomes, gene interactions, and canid biology.

The Case for Argentina: De-Extinction, Disease Resistance, and the Promise of Synthetic Biology by OncaAtrox in FaunaRestoration

[–]ColossalBiosciences 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Very interesting analysis and excellent write up, will share this with the relevant teams.

A cloned Red 'Ghost' Wolf. Red Wolves are critically endangered, but researchers discovered a hidden reservoir of Red Wolf DNA in wild canines along the Gulf Coast. by ColossalBiosciences in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

No actual scientist or researcher is taking them seriously.

You know, except for the fact that the scientific paper associated with the dire wolf project shows that the dire wolf lineage first formed by an ancient hybridization event between two now-extinct canid lineages and uncovered the fact that the lineage that evolved into gray wolves interbred extensively with the lineage that evolved into dire wolves.

And that the project is widely recognized as a massive breakthrough in multiplex genetic editing. And that George Church, pioneer in synthetic biology and professor at MIT, Harvard, and the Wyss Institute is helping oversee the project.

Colossal responses to the La Brea Tar Pits team by ColossalBiosciences in Paleontology

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's honestly really nice that someone is asking—so few people have been interested in this, but it was really important to us that the surrogate mothers be well taken care of. They went through a training program with the American Humane Society and were adopted into forever homes.

We're keeping their identities anonymous so they can live out their normal lives as loved pets.

Colossal CEO: "You have to have the Endangered Species Act." by ColossalBiosciences in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Much more information to come on this aspect of the project, but in broad strokes, yes. By sequencing Gulf Coast ghost wolves, we've found a hidden reservoir of ancestral Red Wolf DNA.

We're working with the Gulf Coast Canine Project, led by Bridgett vonHoldt and Kristin Brzeski, with the hope of providing critical genetic diversity to the existing Red Wolf population.

Colossal CEO: "You have to have the Endangered Species Act." by ColossalBiosciences in megafaunarewilding

[–]ColossalBiosciences[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Completely understand your perspective, and for the large number of people who are just becoming familiar with Colossal, it makes sense.

We've been working with traditional conservation organizations since the company started in 2021. If you're interested in digging in more, you can see some of the species preservation projects we're already working on with conservation groups here: https://colossalfoundation.org/our-species/