The company attempting to bring back the woolly mammoth has now set its sights on a new extinct species.
Colossal Biosciences has announced it will attempt to ‘de-extinct’ a group of birds called the moa, which once lived in New Zealand.
These extraordinary animals included nine species, the largest being the South Island Giant Moa, which stood at 3.6 metres (11.8ft) tall and weighed 230 kg (507 lbs).
Colossal Biosciences will use genes extracted from moa bones to engineer modern birds until they very closely resemble the extinct moa.
This is the same technique that was used to transform grey wolves into animals closely resembling dire wolves last year.
This project will be done in collaboration with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury and backed by $15 million in funding from Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson.
Jackson, who has one of the largest private collections of moa bones, says: ‘With the recent resurrection of the dire wolf, Colossal Biosciences has also made real the possibility of bringing back lost species.
‘There’s a lot of science still to be done – but we can start looking forward to the day when birds like the moa or the huia are rescued from the darkness of extinction.’
The company trying to bring back the woolly mammoth has set its sights on a new extinct creature, the moa. These were a species of 3.6-metre-tall, 230 kg birds that once roamed New Zealand
Of the nine species of moa, the largest is the South Island Giant Moa which lived in New Zealand for millions of years prior to the arrival of humans. Pictured: Māori students pose with a reconstruction of a South Island Giant Moa in 1903
The nine species of moa were found widely across New Zealand until the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers around 1300 AD.
Within just 200 years, the people who became the Māori had pushed all moa species into extinction through a combination of hunting and forest clearing.
The disappearance of the moa also led to a cascade of changes across New Zealand’s isolated island ecosystem.
Less than 100 years after the moa became extinct their main predator, the enormous Haast’s eagle, also died out.
But now, advances in genome editing techniques mean Colossal Biosciences may be able to reintroduce the lost moa back to its natural habitat.
The first step is to recreate the genomes of all nine moa species using ancient DNA stored in preserved moa bones.
Colossal Biosciences has already begun this process with visits to caves containing moa deposits within the tribal area of the Ngāi Tahu and hopes to complete all genomes by 2026.
These genomes will then be compared to those of the moa’s closest living relatives, the emu and tinamou, to see which genes gave the moa their unique traits.
The moa went extinct in the 15th century due to hunting and forest clearing by the first Māori settlers. Colossal Biosciences says restoring this megafauna species will help restore New Zealand’s ecosystem
Colossal Biosciences has partnered with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury and is backed by $15 million in funding from Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson. Pictured: Sir Peter Jackson (left) and Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm (right) holding moa bones
A selection of these genes are then inserted into stem cells called Primordial Germ Cell Culture, cells that turn into eggs and sperm, taken from an emu.
Those engineered cells are allowed to develop into male and female gametes and used to create an embryo, which will be raised inside a surrogate emu egg.
Colossal Biosciences has already used these techniques to create mice with the hair of woolly mammoths and wolves very closely resembling extinct dire wolves.
Scientists used the gene editing tool CRISPR to modify the DNA in blood cells from a living grey wolf in 20 places, creating a wolf with long white hair and muscular jaws.
However, recreating this process in bird species poses much greater technical challenges.
Colossal Biosciences admits that creating Primordial Germ Cell Culture for bird species has been a challenge that has eluded scientists for decades.
Likewise, since bird embryos develop inside eggs, the process of transferring an embryo into a surrogate will be completely different from that used for mammals.
Scientists have also raised questions about whether restoring the moa is something that should be pursued at all.
The process begins by extracting DNA from ancient moa bones such as those found in the caves of Ngāi Tahu takiwā
A selection of moa genes will then be inserted into stem cells derived from their closest living relative, the emu (pictured). Those cells will create embryos that can be raised by surrogacy into animals closely resembling moa
Conservationists say that money would be better spent looking after the endangered species that are already alive.
Others point out that introducing a species which has been gone for over 600 years could have unintended consequences for the ecosystem.
Professor Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the study, told AP: ‘Can you put a species back into the wild once you’ve exterminated it there?
‘I think it’s exceedingly unlikely that they could do this in any meaningful way.’
Professor Pimm adds: ‘This will be an extremely dangerous animal.’
However, Colossal Biosciences maintains that their plan to ‘rewild’ the moa is beneficial for both the environment and the Māori people.
As grazing herbivores, the moa’s browsing habits shaped the distribution and evolution of plants over millions of years.
These effects led to significant changes in New Zealand’s ecosystems, which Colossal Biosciences argues would be more stable with the moa once again introduced.
Colossal Biosciences recently used similar techniques to create grey wolf puppies that closely resemble the extinct dire wolf
Ngāi Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis, who is working with Colossal Biosciences on the project, says that the project has a deeper ancestral meaning.
During the 14th century, the moa were a vital source of meat for sustenance as well as bones and feathers, which became part of traditional jewellery.
The moa came to have a large role in Māori mythology, symbolising strength and resilience.
Mr Davis says: ‘Our earliest ancestors in this place lived alongside moa and our records, both archaeological and oral, contain knowledge about these birds and their environs.
‘We relish the prospect of bringing that into dialogue with Colossal’s cutting-edge science as part of a bold vision for ecological restoration.’
