READ: Gene Editing Could Bring the Dodo Back to Life 300 Years After Extinction
For centuries, the dodo has stood as the most famous symbol of extinction. The plump, flightless bird disappeared from its native Mauritius in the 17th century after human hunting, habitat loss, and invasive predators sealed its fate. Now, more than 300 years later, scientists believe the dodo might walk the Earth again.
Texas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences has announced what it calls a “pivotal step” toward reviving the dodo. The company successfully grew pigeon primordial germ cells—precursors to sperm and eggs—for the first time. Since dodos were a type of pigeon, this breakthrough opens the door to using related species as genetic stand-ins.
Colossal’s plan involves gene-editing Nicobar pigeons, the dodo’s closest living relatives, and implanting their germ cells into chickens, which would serve as surrogates. Over time, with precise genetic modifications to recreate the dodo’s physical traits, the process could result in living dodos once again.
The company estimates that the project could yield results within the the next decade. Colossal is already working with wildlife experts to identify safe, rat-free areas in Mauritius where the birds might one day be released—not just a handful of them, but potentially thousands, with genetic diversity engineered into the population.
Not everyone is convinced. Some scientists warn that we don’t fully understand what made the dodo unique, from its behavior to its physiology, and that a recreated bird might only be a close approximation. Others question whether introducing dodos into today’s changed ecosystems could have unforeseen consequences.
Conservation biologists also worry that the excitement around de-extinction could draw attention and resources away from protecting endangered species that still have a chance of survival. As one critic put it, “bringing back a version of the dodo may be fascinating, but it doesn’t solve the habitat destruction and climate pressures driving current extinctions.”
The dodo project highlights the strange new frontier where science begins to blur into mythology. Gene editing tools like CRISPR aren’t just about fixing past mistakes—they’re about bending the trajectory of life itself. Reviving the dodo is less about restoring an ecosystem and more about demonstrating humanity’s growing ability to play with the fabric of creation, to reach back through time and pull something long vanished into the present.
But this experiment also raises unsettling questions. If extinction itself can be reversed, does death lose some of its finality? Are we stepping into an era where entire species, and perhaps even humans, can be edited, reimagined, or resurrected? The revived dodo might be just the beginning—a symbol of a future where biology becomes as malleable as software, and where the boundary between what is natural and what is engineered grows thinner by the day.
