Could the dodo bird make a reappearance in the 21st century? Dallas scientists believe it a future with the flightless birds is possible.
The dodo has been extinct for more than 300 years, but that isn’t stopping Dallas’ Colossal Biosciences from trying to resurrect the 3-foot-tall, flightless bird.
On Wednesday, the “de-extinction” biotech company announced it cleared an early hurdle by growing primordial germ cells — the precursors to eggs and sperm — from the rock dove, also known as the common pigeon.
Scientists have previously been able to culture and gene-edit primordial germ cells of chickens and geese, a technique that has been used to create a chicken fathered by a duck. But the “recipe has not worked on any other bird species tested, even closely related species like quail,” Anna Keyte, Colossal’s avian species director, said in the press release.
Colossal said it screened more than 300 “recipes” before landing on one that kept pigeon primordial germ cells growing for 60 days.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2025/09/19/resurrection-of-dodo-bird-one-step-closer-thanks-to-transformative-tool-says-colossal/
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“Our avian team’s breakthrough in deriving culture conditions that allow pigeon primordial germ cells to survive long-term is a significant advancement for dodo de-extinction,” Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, said in a press release. “This progress highlights how Colossal’s investment in de-extinction technology is driving discovery and developing tools for both our de-extinction and conservation efforts.”
[More from Lamm and Colossal’s discover here.](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2025/09/19/resurrection-of-dodo-bird-one-step-closer-thanks-to-transformative-tool-says-colossal/)
It’s my understanding that Dodos were delicious. Having a new domesticated food animal could be a good thing.
One step closer to me being able to drive my triceratops to work.
Article is paywalled so I can’t see more detail. Is this like the wolf the other month where they’re just custom tailoring a critter to appear like the target? That’s impressive in and of itself but isn’t “de-extinction”, it’s gene tailoring on demand.