Can Reviving Extinct Species Slow Climate Change?

Seth Green (photo by John Anderson)

On day one of South by Southwest 2024, Ben Lamm – CEO and founder of Colossal Biosciences, aka the company that wants to bring the woolly mammoth back to life – joined actor and filmmaker Seth Green to discuss progress in using biotech to both preserve endangered species and reintroduce extinct species into the environment.

The panel took the format of a fireside conversation: Green asking questions and Lamm providing scientific insight. “I know what you’re thinking: ‘This is the perfect person to be talking about significant scientific events,’” the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor joked. “What most people don't know is I’m actually incredibly curious and interested in all this kind of stuff.”

Colossal Biosciences founder and CEO Ben Lamm (photo by John Anderson)

The thought of raising extinct species from the dead conjures Jurassic Park-esque nightmares for many of us, but rest assured: Lamm says it’s still impossible to bring back dinosaurs. Instead, Colossal set its sights on reincarnating the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, and dodo. The company is also working to preserve 10 endangered and vulnerable species, including the northern white rhino, asian elephant, and gray wolf. “Most people think about de-extinction and they separate it from species preservation,” Lamm said. “Conservation works, it just doesn’t work as fast. I think it's pretty important for us to have a de-extinction tool kit and not need it than not having a de-extinction tool kit and absolutely need it.”

One species Colossal is set on preserving is the northern white rhino. One issue: the only two remaining rhinos are female. However, Lamm says this isn’t a problem. Scientists at Colossal take cells from northern white rhinos, living and dead, and use genetic engineering to make embryos and grow them in a lab. “I'm going to work with incredible rewilding experts to put them back into their natural habitat,” Lamm said. “It’s a game changer for conservation.”

Reintroducing keystone species to their native environments can have ripple effects, Lamm said. For example: the reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone in 1995. Lamm said reintroducing woolly mammoth to the Arctic tundra could lower ground temperatures, ensure permafrost, and sequester methane and carbon. Reintroducing apex predators, like the Tasmanian tiger to Australia, may result in healthier populations of prey species, like the Tasmanian devil. “Most predators don't kill the super strong super fast, they kill the weak, the young, and the sick,” Lamm said.

The panel, originally titled “Fact-Checking Jurassic Park,” spent less time on the feasibility of reincarnating dinosaurs than Colossal’s more realistic goals. While not entirely scientifically accurate, Lamm said, Jurassic Park did a great job of getting the public interested in DNA and genetic engineering. “It's a dystopian movie to entertain people,” Lamm said. “If it was just a bunch of geneticists that were successfully saving rhinos, I don't know if they would’ve had the same box office numbers. But fundamentally, it did a lot because it educated kids and the general public.”

How the Science of De-Extinction is Helping to Save Species

2050 Track, Fireside Chat