{"id":276565,"date":"2025-07-09T17:27:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/?p=276565"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:37:14","slug":"colossal-biosciences-takes-on-de%e2%80%91extinction-of-new-zealands-12%e2%80%91foot-moa-after-dire-wolf-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/colossal-biosciences-takes-on-de%e2%80%91extinction-of-new-zealands-12%e2%80%91foot-moa-after-dire-wolf-milestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Colossal Biosciences Takes On De\u2011Extinction of New Zealand’s 12\u2011Foot Moa After Dire Wolf Milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Months after turning its dire wolf de-extinction into a moonshot milestone, Colossal Biosciences is going bigger\u2014and taller. The company, now Texas’ first decacorn with a valuation of more than $10 billion, has unveiled plans to recreate New Zealand’s giant moa: a 12-foot-tall, 500-pound flightless bird that’s been extinct for six centuries.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The moa is the Dallas-based genetic engineering and de-extinction company\u2019s fourth species announcement\u2014five counting the dire wolf<\/a>\u2014joining its plans for the woolly mammoth<\/a>, Tasmanian tiger<\/a>, and dodo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This time, Colossal is applying its de-extinction pipeline in a way that could be repeated in other regions. In what the company calls “a historic indigenous-coordinated initiative,” Colossal aims to de-extinct the South Island giant moa and other taonga (treasured) species, with research, genome work, and biobanking run through Colossal Labs New Zealand, a new local subsidiary.<\/p>\n

Sir Peter Jackson, the “Lord of the Rings” filmmaker and a longtime New Zealand conservation advocate, helped bring the partners together and has previously backed Colossal’s other de-extinction projects. The Ng\u0101i Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury will lead the Moa project and ensure M\u0101ori communities have a stake in the science, benefits, and decision-making, the company said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Colossal CEO Ben Lamm (right) and Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro pictured with a stuffed dodo. Bringing back the famously extinct dodo bird is another Colossal goal. [Photo: Colossal]<\/p><\/div>\n

“This partnership represents a new model where indigenous leadership guides scientific endeavors,” Colossal co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm said in a statement, describing how traditional ecological knowledge will shape how the tools are deployed.<\/p>\n

According to Colossal, the plan is to pair its genetic engineering tools with revenue stream models for communities, including ecotourism partnerships and carbon credit modeling, while making the conservation technology open-source under the direction of the Ng\u0101i Tahu Research Centre.<\/p>\n

What’s a moa\u2014and why now?<\/h3>\n

Moa were giant flightless birds endemic to New Zealand that disappeared about 600 years ago, wiped out after Polynesian settlement through hunting and habitat loss. The South Island giant moa was the biggest of them all, standing up to 12 feet tall with its neck extended and weighing as much as 500 pounds. For millennia, these giants shaped New Zealand’s forests through grazing and seed dispersal.<\/p>\n

Professor Mike Stevens, who directs the Ng\u0101i Tahu Research Centre, says that during the 14th and 15th centuries, moa provided meat for sustenance and bones and feathers for tools and decoration. He points to the moa\u2019s disappearance as an early lesson in the region\u2019s \u201cfragile plenty,\u201d adding that the community sees this project as a way to bring ecological and economic goals together.<\/p>\n

Bringing the moa back, Colossal said, is about restoring a lost keystone species and testing how its platform works across vastly different species and ecosystems.<\/p>\n

A test of scale and stewardship<\/h3>\n

The moa project is something of a test of operational scale for Colossal. But more than that, it combines frontier genetics with local stewardship, cultural heritage, and economic opportunities for communities across Te Waipounamu\/the South Island.<\/p>\n

According to a release, Colossal and the Ng\u0101i Tahu Research Centre plan to sequence genomes for all nine known moa species, study related birds like emus and tinamous, and build a regional biobank for other “treasured” species. M\u0101ori community-led expeditions will help gather DNA samples, while new labs and science centers will be based in the South Island to grow research and biotech jobs there.<\/p>\n

Colossal says it will open-source the conservation technology, develop ecotourism ventures and create carbon credit models to support long-term funding under the direction of the Ng\u0101i Tahu, which will guide how traditional ecological knowledge shapes the work. Educational programming for M\u0101ori youth is also planned to help build future capacity in conservation science and genetics.<\/p>\n

As Jackson put it in the announcement, Colossal has “made real the possibility of bringing back lost species.”<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of science still to be done\u2014but we can start looking forward to the day when birds like the moa are rescued from the darkness of extinction,” he said. “Exciting times lay ahead.”<\/p>\n

\n

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The Dallas decacorn is scaling its de-extinction pipeline with indigenous leadership, a New\u202fZealand subsidiary, and economic models for species preservation, including ecotourism opportunities. Filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson helped connect the collaborators, Colossal CEO Ben Lamm says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":276569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,12,15],"tags":[2751,1254,172675,205519,178043,205517,205516,205515,205518],"class_list":["post-276565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enterprise","category-social","category-invention","category-startup","tag-ben-lamm","tag-biotech","tag-colossal-biosciences","tag-colossal-labs-new-zealand","tag-de-extinction","tag-ngai-tahu-research-centre","tag-professor-mike-stevens","tag-sir-peter-jackson","tag-university-of-canterbury"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nColossal Biosciences Takes On De\u2011Extinction of New Zealand's 12\u2011Foot Moa After Dire Wolf Milestone » Dallas Innovates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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Preston launched the Dallas Innovates' media platform to tell the story of innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was official in 2016 when the Dallas skyline turned purple for innovation. Since then, Dallas Innovates has become a must-read among business leaders and forward thinkers in North Texas. \\\"Our partners call us 'the tip of the spear for innovation news in North Texas,'\\\" she says. \\\"Now it's our tagline.\\\" The media-with-a-mission brand covers what's new and next in North Texas business. \\\"Our lens is lift,\\\" Preston says. \\\"We want to inspire ideas and opportunity. We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\\\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \\\"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\\\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \\\"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\\\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \\\"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\\\" she noted. \\\"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\\\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \\\"the drumbeat\\\" for the innovation economy in the region. Dallas Next also publishes the DALLAS\u00ae publications in partnership with the DRC. Dallas Innovates' sister publications include the DALLAS\u00ae Regional Economic Development Guide, the DALLAS\u00ae Relocation + Newcomers Guide, and the\u00a0DALLAS\u00ae Commercial Real Estate, which is a partnership with the DRC and The Real Estate Council. \\\"It's hard to say no to Quincy Preston when she believes in something,\\\" wrote D CEO Editor Christine Perez in the magazine. \\\"She won't stop until she makes it happen.\\\" In a previous role at D Magazine Partners, Preston incubated Dallas Innovates and published the DRC's brand publications. There, she also led the launch of D Healthcare Daily at D CEO and the launch of D TV. Preston developed data solutions to provide insights and measurement for growth across D Magazine Partners brands. Preston has worn many hats in her media career, including stints as a writer, photographer, and award-winning designer. During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. 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around 1400 CE. Colossal Biosciences plans to resurrect the 500-pound birds using ancient DNA extracted from cave deposits and artificial egg technology. [Source image: Colossal Biosciences]"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/colossal-biosciences-takes-on-de%e2%80%91extinction-of-new-zealands-12%e2%80%91foot-moa-after-dire-wolf-milestone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colossal Biosciences Takes On De\u2011Extinction of New Zealand’s 12\u2011Foot Moa After Dire Wolf Milestone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/","name":"Dallas Innovates","description":"What's new + next in Dallas - Fort Worth","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#organization","name":"Dallas Innovates | Published by Dallas Next","url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Dallas-Innovates-logo-purple.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Dallas-Innovates-logo-purple.jpg","width":1782,"height":410,"caption":"Dallas Innovates | Published by Dallas Next"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dallasinnovates\/","https:\/\/x.com\/dallasinnovates","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dallasinnovates\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dallas-innovates"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#\/schema\/person\/31d96a1ad48d703a6b72c03a291cd710","name":"Quincy Preston","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7b6237fd07da03813670ac36e1677b49e7d53f115936e2c32e5eb4a63a263e3?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7b6237fd07da03813670ac36e1677b49e7d53f115936e2c32e5eb4a63a263e3?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Quincy Preston"},"description":"Quincy Preston is fueled by an entrepreneurial spark and driven by mission. Preston launched the Dallas Innovates' media platform to tell the story of innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was official in 2016 when the Dallas skyline turned purple for innovation. Since then, Dallas Innovates has become a must-read among business leaders and forward thinkers in North Texas. \"Our partners call us 'the tip of the spear for innovation news in North Texas,'\" she says. \"Now it's our tagline.\" The media-with-a-mission brand covers what's new and next in North Texas business. \"Our lens is lift,\" Preston says. \"We want to inspire ideas and opportunity. We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\" she noted. \"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \"the drumbeat\" for the innovation economy in the region. Dallas Next also publishes the DALLAS\u00ae publications in partnership with the DRC. Dallas Innovates' sister publications include the DALLAS\u00ae Regional Economic Development Guide, the DALLAS\u00ae Relocation + Newcomers Guide, and the\u00a0DALLAS\u00ae Commercial Real Estate, which is a partnership with the DRC and The Real Estate Council. \"It's hard to say no to Quincy Preston when she believes in something,\" wrote D CEO Editor Christine Perez in the magazine. \"She won't stop until she makes it happen.\" In a previous role at D Magazine Partners, Preston incubated Dallas Innovates and published the DRC's brand publications. There, she also led the launch of D Healthcare Daily at D CEO and the launch of D TV. Preston developed data solutions to provide insights and measurement for growth across D Magazine Partners brands. Preston has worn many hats in her media career, including stints as a writer, photographer, and award-winning designer. During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter\u00a0 Send news and tips here.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dallasinnovates.com","https:\/\/x.com\/quincypreston"],"url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/author\/quincy-preston\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}