Disappeared for more than 300 years, will the dodo be brought back to life?

Will we see the living animal again with our own eyes, more than 300 after its disappearance?

It is estimated that the last dodo, a bird from Mauritius that has become a symbol of the decline in biodiversity due to human activities, disappeared at the end of the 17th century.

This Tuesday, the start-up Colossal Biosciences presented its project of wanting to revive it through sequencing and genetic modification, reports

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genetically modified eggs

According to the company Colossal Biosciences, the sequencing of the dodo genome has already been carried out thanks to remains preserved in Denmark.

The start-up will therefore have the task of carrying out the second step: mixing this DNA with that of a similar bird, namely the Nicobar pigeon, a bird living on the Nicobar archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The idea is therefore to remove cells from an egg and then cultivate and modify them in the laboratory before reintroducing them into another egg.

“The technology works on chickens.

It would be amazing to do this with different species of birds.

It would have a huge impact on avian conservation,” Beth Shapiro, paleogeneticist at Colossal Biosciences, told

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Creation of a “proxy”

If the operation succeeds, it will lead to the creation of a "proxy" of the dodo, a cross between the extinct species and the Nicobar pigeon.

The resulting behavior of the bird is difficult to determine, since certain behaviors learned directly through the parents cannot be transmitted to this dodo "proxy" unique in the world, as explained by the specialized site

, relayed by

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To achieve its goal, Colossal Biosciences has raised a total of $225 million (around €205 million) since 2021.

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