In a bold and unprecedented move, Colossal Biosciences Inc., a Dallas-based biotech company valued at $10 billion, has announced its ambitious plan to bring the northern white rhino back from the brink of extinction within four years. This visionary project, a collaboration between a global consortium of scientists from countries including Kenya, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Czech Republic, marks a critical step in the fight to safeguard dwindling biodiversity as human activities continue to threaten vital ecosystems.
Currently, only two northern white rhinos remain: the females Najin and Fatu, residing within a reserve in Kenya's Rift Valley. Both are unable to breed naturally, rendering this subspecies functionally extinct. The consortium's strategy aims to utilise innovative gene editing techniques alongside a surrogate mother approach -- using eggs from the two remaining females and stored sperm -- to create embryos. These embryos would then be implanted into surrogate female southern white rhinos, of which there are over 15,000 still extant, primarily in South Africa.
"This is three to four years away," stated Matt James, Colossal's chief animal officer. "It will be easier and cheaper to recover the population today than it would be if we lost the species altogether and then we tried to bring it back from extinction."
Gene editing technologies, while promising, stir a range of emotions among the scientific community. Critics voice concerns about the unforeseen ecological repercussions that may accompany the revival of long-extinct species. Conversely, advocates highlight the urgent necessity of employing such 'synthetic genetic rescue' methodologies as human impact continues to undermine biodiversity.
The rescue mission began with the formation of the BioRescue Consortium in 2015, comprised of scientists from five continents. This group formulated a strategic plan to protect the northern white rhino subspecies after the death of the last male, Sudan, in 2018, reducing the northern white population to just two. Notably, while Colossal is not officially part of BioRescue, they signed an agreement in 2023 to potentially assist in these groundbreaking efforts.
Historically, the northern white rhinos once thrived across central and eastern Africa, with their numbers estimated at around 2,250 in the 1960s. Yet, rampant poaching decimated their population, leading to catastrophic declines and a loss of genetic diversity essential for their survival. Project coordinator Jan Stejskal underscores this challenge, stating, "We realized that some of the genetic variability of the northern white rhino might be kind of preserved in the trophies or in the remains of the northern white rhino that were hunted, let's say 100 years ago." Researchers are honing in on acquiring DNA samples from museums and private collections worldwide to reinvigorate the genetic bank that is essential for a healthy population.
Previous attempts to implant embryos into southern white rhinos without employing gene editing yielded no success. However, the BioRescue project has made substantial progress in embryo creation at Avantea, an Italian assisted reproduction institute. James described this endeavor as "using synthetic biology tools to create targeted changes within a genome to artificially enhance the genetic diversity of an ailing population."
Colossal has larger aspirations in the realm of de-extinction, with an interest that extends beyond rhinos to include the resurrection of iconic species like the woolly mammoth and the dodo. Their recent success in creating three dire wolves -- a species that vanished over 12,000 years ago -- has led them to reaffirm their commitment to this controversial yet fascinating field of expertise.
"We love de-extinction, we think it's an amazing pursuit," asserted James. "But it's always easier and cheaper to prevent an extinction than it is to reverse an extinction."