Colossal Biosciences has successfully hatched chicks from a fully artificial egg for the first time, marking a major breakthrough in de-extinction science
Texas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has achieved a major scientific breakthrough after successfully hatching live chicks from a fully artificial egg for the first time.
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The development represents a significant milestone in the company’s broader mission to revive extinct species, including the dodo, woolly mammoth, dire wolf, and the giant moa bird once native to New Zealand.
According to the company, the artificial egg system allows bird embryos to develop entirely outside a natural shell, while scientists closely monitor each stage of growth from embryo formation to hatching.
By engineering a controlled environment that mimics natural oxygen transfer, researchers were able to successfully hatch 26 healthy chicks without the need for a biological mother or traditional incubation.
Colossal Biosciences CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm described the breakthrough as a step beyond replication, emphasizing the company’s innovative approach to biology.
“We didn’t just copy nature,” Lamm said. “We tried to re-engineer it.”
The chicks are expected to live normally at Colossal’s avian research facility, where they will be monitored as part of ongoing studies into artificial incubation and genetic preservation.
The company believes the innovation could significantly improve survival rates for endangered bird species with low natural hatchability.
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It also opens a potential pathway toward future de-extinction projects, including efforts to bring back extinct birds such as the dodo and giant moa, which Colossal suggests could be reintroduced in the early to mid-2030s.
