Dodo by Colossal Biosciences: status and timeline

Milestones

Next · Dodo genome editing underway

$120M dedicated funding for dodo programSep 2025Complete.
Healthy pigeon primordial germ cells cultured in lab2025Complete.
Dodo genome editing underwayTarget 2026Current milestone.
First dodo egg laid and hatchedTarget 2031Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Colossal Biosciences raises $120M for dodo de-extinction with breakthrough in pigeon primordial germ cells17 Sep 2025

Upcoming

2026Dodo genome editing underway (next)
2030First fertile dodo eggs ready for incubation
2031First dodo egg laid and hatched

Current obstacles

Scaling cell culture to egg productionGrowing primordial germ cells is one thing; producing billions of them and maturing them into viable sperm and eggs is another challenge.
Unknown fitness of the de-extincted birdEven if a dodo hatches, it may lack behavioral instincts and survival skills that a true dodo would have, making it difficult to sustain a population.

Physics limits

Avian incubation dependencyBirds must be incubated at precise temperatures and humidities during development. Any mismatch between the edited genome and the pigeon surrogate's physiology will affect survival.
Limited historical records of dodo biologyThe dodo is known from paintings and skeletal remains, but little is known about its behavior, diet, and breeding patterns, making it hard to judge if a de-extincted version is truly a dodo.

How it works

3 parts

Host species

The rock pigeon as a stand-in

The rock pigeon shares a common ancestor with the dodo and has a compatible genome size and development. Scientists edit pigeon DNA to match the dodo genome.

Fertile cells

Growing primordial germ cells in culture

Colossal cultured pigeon primordial germ cells in the lab, a breakthrough for creating fertile dodo eggs.

Egg production

Creating fertile dodo eggs

The edited primordial germ cells are matured into functional sperm and eggs, which can then be used to fertilize edited embryos that develop into dodo birds.

Spec sheet

Spec	Dodo
Dedicated program funding	$120M^R (reported)
Estimated time to living dodo	5–7 years^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

1 update

Wed 17 Sep 2025

Major: Colossal Biosciences raises $120M for dodo de-extinction with breakthrough in pigeon primordial germ cellsPressFunding

About Colossal Biosciences

The team behind Dodo

Colossal Biosciences

De-extinction, dire wolf, woolly mammoth

Dallas company co-founded by Ben Lamm and George Church that edits living animals to carry traits of extinct ones: mammoth, thylacine, dodo, moa. In 2025 it announced wolf pups edited with dire wolf traits and 'woolly mice'.

Apr 2025: announced three pups cloned from gray wolf cells with 20 edits in 14 genes chosen from ancient dire wolf DNA.
Many scientists, including the IUCN wolf and dog experts, say they are modified gray wolves, not dire wolves.
Reported in Jul 2026 to be raising at a $20–30B valuation, up from $10.2B in Jan 2025.

colossal.com (opens colossal.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20215 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: $10BprivateJan 2025
Raised: $350M2 rounds
Last round: Series C · $200MJan 2025$10B post
Works in: BiotechDe-extinction
Coverage: 5 programs · 11 updateslatest 1 Jul 2026checked 25 Sep
Lead investors: TWG GlobalUS Innovative Technology Fund
Partners: Form Bio (opens formbio.com)University of Melbourne (opens unimelb.edu.au)
Investors: TWG Global
People: Ben Lamm (opens en.wikipedia.org)Co-founder and CEOGeorge Church (opens en.wikipedia.org)Co-founderBeth Shapiro (opens en.wikipedia.org)Chief Science Officer

Spec

Dodo

Dedicated program funding

$120M^R (reported)

Estimated time to living dodo

5–7 years^R (reported)