{"id":145674,"date":"2025-09-18T16:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T16:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/145674\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T16:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T16:24:12","slug":"de-extinction-of-the-dodo-takes-a-major-step-forwards-scientists-successfully-reprogramme-pigeon-stem-cells-and-it-could-allow-them-to-resurrect-the-lost-species-by-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/145674\/","title":{"rendered":"De-extinction of the dodo takes a MAJOR step forwards: Scientists successfully reprogramme pigeon stem cells – and it could allow them to resurrect the lost species by 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was ruthlessly hunted to extinction by humans over 300 years ago.<\/p>\n

But scientists are one step closer to bringing the dodo back from the dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts at Colossal Biosciences, a ‘de-extinction company’ in Texas<\/a>, have grown primordial germ cells of the\u00a0Nicobar pigeon, the dodo’s closest living relative.<\/p>\n

Primordial germ cells are simply stem cells that develop into either sperm or eggs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, scientists are planning on editing these pigeon cells with dodo DNA, before transferring them to gene-edited chickens.<\/p>\n

This should allow the chickens to lay dodo eggs that should allow for the once-extinct bird to live again by the turn of the decade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ben Lamm, chief executive of Colossal Biosciences, described the newest development as ‘a significant advancement for dodo de-extinction’.<\/p>\n

‘Colossal’s investment in de-extinction technology is driving discovery and developing tools for both our de-extinction and conservation efforts,’ he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Scientists <\/p>\n

Scientists claim they are one step closer to bringing the dodo back from extinction. Pictured, a dodo model at the\u00a0Natural History Museum in London\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Scientists <\/p>\n

Scientists are using stem cell technology to bring back the extinct species – more than 350 years after it was wiped out<\/p>\n

According to Mr\u00a0Lamm, the growth of pigeon primordial germ cells is a world first, and\u00a0a ‘pivotal step’ in bringing back the dodo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now this hurdle is cleared, he thinks the extinct species’ return will be as soon as five years from now, or as late as seven years from now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new dodos \u2013 the first to be born since the 17th century \u2013 will eventually be released in Mauritius, the island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colossal Biosciences,\u00a0which also wants to bring back the extinct woolly mammoth<\/a> and Tasmanian tiger<\/a>,\u00a0has already partnered with The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to find a suitable location for the first flock.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Mr Lamm wants ‘thousands’ of dodos on Mauritius that have enough genetic diversity to protect them from any widespread disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, experts have questioned whether the new birds would really be dodos at all,\u00a0because of how challenging it is to 100 per cent replicate an extinct creature’s genetic code.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the resulting chicks hatch, they may have a few differences compared to the original species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Phil Seddon, professor of zoology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, hailed the firm’s ‘amazing technological breakthroughs’ but said extinction ‘really is forever’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Most <\/p>\n

Most people believe that the dodo was a fat, ungainly bird, but as it has been extinct since the late 1600s, nobody really knows exactly what the dodo looked like\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dodo: Basic facts\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Scientific name:\u00a0Raphus cucullatus<\/p>\n

Height: Three feet\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weight:\u00a023-39lbs<\/p>\n

Range: Mauritius (Indian Ocean)<\/p>\n

Habitat: Forests\u00a0<\/p>\n

Status: Extinct\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

<!- – ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/sciencetech\/none\/article\/other\/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – -><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

‘This involved advances in genetic technology, and these might have applications for the conservation of existing species,’ he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dodo, discovered by Europeans in 1598, was a flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

It gets its name from the Portuguese word for ‘fool’, after colonialists mocked its apparent lack of fear of human hunters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the species became prey for cats, dogs and pigs that had been brought with sailors exploring the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

Because the species lived in isolation on Mauritius for hundreds of years, the bird was fearless, and its inability to fly made it easy prey.<\/p>\n

Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662 after Dutch sailors first spotted the species just 64 years earlier in 1598.<\/p>\n

Most people believe that the dodo was a fat, ungainly bird, but as it has been extinct since the late 1600s, nobody really knows exactly what the dodo looked like.<\/p>\n

Oxford University Museum of Natural History is home to the only surviving remains of dodo soft tissue that exists anywhere in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scientists said the ‘Oxford dodo’ was blasted in the back of the head with a shotgun<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Nicobar pigeon (pictured) is the closest living relative of the dodo, found on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India<\/p>\n

\"The \"Its <\/p>\n

The dodo gets its name from the Portuguese word for ‘fool’, after colonialists mocked its apparent lack of fear of human hunters<\/p>\n

\"Pictured, <\/p>\n

Pictured, part of the ‘Oxford dodo’ –\u00a0the only surviving remains of dodo soft tissue that exists anywhere in the world<\/p>\n

There’s also a dodo upper jaw in the National Museum, Prague, and\u00a0a dodo skull in\u00a0the Natural History Museum of Denmark, from which experts at\u00a0Colossal Biosciences extracted DNA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, these scarce dodo fragments exist as a ‘symbol of man-caused extinction’, according to the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since its launch in September 2021, Colossal Biosciences has raised just over $555 million (\u00a3406 million) in funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among its high-profile investors include film director Peter Jackson, golfer\u00a0Tiger Woods and American footballer\u00a0Tom Brady.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson is involved with the firm’s separate project to bright back the moa, the iconic\u00a0extinct New Zealand bird.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHY DID THE DODO GO EXTINCT? <\/p>\n

Little is known about the life of the dodo, despite the notoriety that comes with being one of the world’s most famous extinct species in history.<\/p>\n

The bird gets its name from the Portuguese word for ‘fool’ after colonialists mocked its apparent lack of fear of human hunters.<\/p>\n

The 3ft (one metre) tall bird was wiped out by visiting sailors and the dogs, cats, pigs and monkeys they brought to the island in the 17th century.<\/p>\n

Because the species lived in isolation on Mauritius for hundreds of years, the bird was fearless, and its inability to fly made it easy prey.<\/p>\n

Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662 after Dutch sailors first spotted the species just 64 years earlier in 1598.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it had evolved without any predators, it survived in bliss for centuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The arrival of human settlers to the islands meant that its numbers rapidly diminished as it was eaten by the new species invading its habitat – humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sailors and settlers ravaged the docile bird and it went from a successful animal occupying an environmental niche with no predators to extinct in a single lifetime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was ruthlessly hunted to extinction by humans over 300 years ago. But scientists are one step closer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[97,59,90,124,3329,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-145674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-sciencetech","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}