US biotech company Colossal Biosciences says it has finally managed to keep pigeon cells alive in the lab long enough to tweak their DNA – a crucial step toward its dream of recreating the dodo.
The firm has grown “primordial germ cells” (early embryonic cells) from Nicobar pigeons, the dodo’s closest living relative, for weeks at a time. This is an achievement avian geneticists have chased for more than a decade.
But the breakthrough’s real value lies in its potential to protect wildlife that is still living.
