Colossal Biosciences has been making waves since its founding in 2021, thanks to its ambitious and controversial goal of reviving lost species like the woolly mammoth and dodo. While many have compared the company's efforts to that of the Jurassic Park book and film franchise, Colossal's work is rooted in the use of next-generation technologies and pioneering conservation tactics that have been studied and debated for years.
Despite being a relatively new conservation approach, de-extinction and its associated sequencing and gene-editing technologies can potentially influence biodiversity and ecosystem restoration and impact how species adapt to these effects, greatly reducing extinctions.
While this may sound like a far-fetched attempt at safeguarding the Earth's biodiversity, Dr. Beth Shapiro, a renowned molecular biologist and Colossal Biosciences' newly appointed chief science officer was one of the first to do a deep dive into the concept and its effects on conservation in her 2015 book, How To Clone a Mammoth: The Science Behind De-Extinction.
"The goal of my research is to learn from the past to be able to make informed decisions about how we use the limited resources that we have to protect species that are in danger today," she said at a University of California San Diego conference in 2018. As a foremost expert in ancient DNA, Shapiro has spent much of her career investigating the science behind de-extinction and its potential applications to the conservation movement.
Decoding Ancient DNA and the De-Extinction Dilemma
Shapiro began studying ancient DNA by happenstance. "It had only just been discovered that DNA is preserved in the remains of organisms after they die and it was just an amazing coincidence of opportunities," she told Nature Video on YouTube. "I ended up at Oxford University, where one of the earliest ancient-DNA labs was, and had an opportunity to join this field. I actually had no experience in molecular biology at the time."
While initially focusing her studies on the impacts of glaciation on ecosystems, Shapiro's interest shifted to extinct species and advancing the field of ancient genomics. As a Ph.D. student, Shapiro was the first person to generate DNA data from the long-extinct dodo and made her first major contribution to the de-extinction movement by genetically determining that the species was a member of the pigeon family—information that's pertinent to Colossal Biosciences' ongoing efforts to return the iconic bird to its home in Mauritius.
Shapiro was also the first to computationally analyze ancient DNA to uncover population-level information about living species when she determined that the American bison nearly went extinct during the last ice age. This technique has widely informed the field of synthetic biology, as seen in a 2023 study published in Science that predicted the risk of extinction for 240 species based on genomic data outlining historical population sizes.
This study—which credits Shapiro as a reference—calls for using genomic data to determine species conservation statuses and found that species with smaller historical population sizes were at greater risk of extinction due to higher rates of mutations and potential inbreeding.
While Shapiro's work has remained focused on using genomic information to inform conservation tactics and has even involved the use of genomic editing to "genetically rescue" species facing low diversity, as an ancient-DNA expert, she cannot avoid questions of de-extinction, and has not ruled out the potential ecosystem-wide benefits of rewilding certain lost species.
"If the point is to put it in a zoo, then we should probably stop right now," she said about bringing back the woolly mammoth. "If the point is to restore diversity to preserve an ecosystem that doesn't function well without a certain animal, then maybe it's worth considering."
In her book How To Clone a Mammoth, Shapiro thoroughly examines the science behind de-extinction and explains that while she remains skeptical about the process, de-extinct animals have the potential to reinvigorate their ecosystems with improved functionality.
A Colossal Partnership
Despite extensively researching and writing about de-extinction, Shapiro remained pessimistic about the process. However, this was before Colossal Biosciences was founded with $225 million in funding and a biotechnological toolkit capable of altering the genes of a living cell with traits encapsulated in the ancient DNA of extinct species.
"It's a totally new source of money—a huge source, potentially—that's being invested directly into things that we all care about," Shapiro said to National Geographic when news about the company initially broke. Shapiro joined Colossal soon after as its lead paleogeneticist and a member of its scientific advisory board.
With her work spanning from leading the company's avian genomics group and the de-extinction of the dodo to securing and sequencing ancient DNA samples, Shapiro has been an undeniable asset to Colossal Biosciences and was recently appointed to the position of chief science officer.
"Beth and I have developed an incredible relationship over the past few years. I'm extremely impressed by her intellect, drive, and the rigor of her scientific research," shared Colossal CEO Ben Lamm. "I know she will continue to push our scientific research programs further and is the best fit for the role. It's a dream to work so closely with Beth, and I know our species leads feel the same."
As Colossal's chief science officer, Shapiro will oversee the company's various de-extinction and conservation teams as they take on projects ranging from the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, dodo bird, and thylacine to the rewilding of exotic and critically endangered species like the pink pigeon, northern white rhino, and Victorian grassland earless dragon. Given her past work, Shapiro is expected to continue to break down barriers to de-extinction with her newfound position.
"I've been an adviser to Colossal since just after the company launched and am excited now to step in full time to support the team's groundbreaking work," Beth Shapiro shared in a press release. "It's thrilling to see the research we've been doing in the labs not only seeing the light of day, but being applied to science that will positively impact the planet."
