Returning Dodo will involve building its native habitats

Founded by software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and geneticist George Church, Colossal is popular for its other ambitious de-extinction project of bringing back the Woolly Mammoth. However, its Avian Genomics Group has made major advances in bringing back the flightless bird.

Bringing back Dodo

Paleogeneticist Beth Shapiro was the first scientist to fully sequence the genome of the Dodo. Under her guidance, the Colossal team has now created a reference genome sequence of another flightless bird called Solitaire, which lived on Rodrigues Island near Mauritius but is also extinct.

In addition to this, the team is also sequencing the genome of the Nicobar Pigeon, the closest living relative of the Dodo. Studying the pigeon is important since the scientists plan to use its primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the future.

The PGCs have already shown that they can grow inside the chicken gonads, and the team is now determining if it can differentiate into viable sperm and egg cells that can make a pigeon progeny, the press release said.

Creating environments for rewilding

The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation is Colossal's rewilding partner for the Dodo resurrection project. In this role, the Foundation will work on restoring critical ecosystems through revegetation and removing invasive species. Additionally, the Foundation will work with local communities to increase awareness about the project.

The Foundation will leverage its expertise in avian rescue and field monitoring to develop native habitats for extinct birds and ensure their survival once they are reintroduced, and later, pave the way to self-sustaining populations.

"The Dodo, a bird intimately woven in the DNA of Mauritius, is also sadly iconic for the role mankind played in its extinction. It also symbolizes efforts to prevent species extinctions," said Vikash Tatayah, Director of Conservation at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. "We are so grateful for Colossal's technologies and the promise to return this iconic species, extinct since the 1680s, to its native environment."

The models built by the Foundation will also be used by Colossal for de-extinction and rewilding efforts across the globe; it is the only private genomics program that is working on such a project.

"Colossal's de-extinction projects are only successful if the animals are rewilded and brought back to their natural habitat," said Matt James, Colossal's Chief Animal Officer. "We look forward to working with Mauritius to ensure this happens with the dodo."  

In addition to this, the two organizations are also teaming up to improve the genetic diversity of Pink Pigeons, an iconic Mauritian bird. Currently, only 500 of these birds remain in the region. Colossal plans to identify the lost genetic diversity from historical samples and use gene editing to bring it to the remaining Pink Pigeon population.