'De-extinction' company says woolly mammoths will come back from the dead in 2028

The world's first 'de-extinction' company says it's on track to bring back the woolly mammoth from the dead in just a few years.

US biotech firm Colossal Biosciences has pieced together more than 50 mammoth genomes spanning 1.2 million years of evolution with the aim of creating mammoth-like embryos by 2028.

Critics of the project say the effort and money should be going into living, endangered species that need help now, but Colossal insists resurrecting the creature that went extinct around 10,000 years ago could help us battle climate change, reports Earth.com.

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Scientists have compared mammoth DNA with that of Asian elephants, its closest living relative, and are targeting a few hundred genes that shape classic mammoth traits - shaggy fur, smaller ears, extra fat for insulation, and blood proteins that work in deep cold.

The plan is to edit the elephant cells using gene‑editing tools and then use cloning techniques to turn those edited cells into embryos for implantation in surrogate mothers. The result would not be a true 100% genetic clone of a woolly mammoth, but rather a ‘hybrid’ that would mirror the mammoth’s appearance and behaviour.

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Colossal, based in Dallas, Texas, says it's testing combinations of edits in fast‑breeding lab mice first. In early trials last year, 'woolly mice' created with longer, wavier, golden coats were able to pass those traits on to their pups without apparent health problems.

Woolly mammoths once roamed from Europe to North America, shaping a vast 'mammoth steppe' grassland. As keystone grazers, they trampled snow, knocked back shrubs and trees, spread seeds, and helped keep permafrost locked in winter cold.

Some scientists argue that putting large cold‑adapted grazers back on the tundra could slow the thaw of permafrost and the release of climate‑heating gases. Colossal believes engineered 'mammoth‑like' elephants could serve as ecosystem engineers in a warming Arctic.

An adult Woolly mammoth stood around 3.4 metres (about 11ft) at the shoulder and weighed up to six tonnes. Their dense underfur beneath long guard hairs, a thick, fat layer up to 8cm, and smaller ears to reduce heat loss meant they could thrive in colder conditions.

Tusks up to 4.6 metres (15 ft) helped clear snow to reach buried grasses and sedges - and likely settled a few disputes. Like modern elephants, they lived in matriarchal herds where elders passed on vital knowledge.

Most mainland mammoths disappeared between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago. A tiny, inbred population limped on until about 4,000 years ago on Wrangel Island in the Arctic.

The species perished as the Ice Age ended with warming shattering their grassland habitat - and as modern humans spread, hunting pressure rose. Genetic studies suggest Wrangel’s last mammoths weren’t doomed purely by bad genes; a final sharp blow may have been environmental or human‑driven.

Some evolutionary biologists argue that editing an elephant to look and behave like a mammoth isn’t true resurrection but rather the creation of a new, engineered animal. There are also hard questions about cost, animal welfare, and whether scarce conservation cash should go to living species first.

Colossal counters that the same toolkit could protect today’s wildlife. The company has launched a non‑profit arm, the Colossal Foundation, which it says funds dozens of conservation projects. Techniques for elephant stem cells, assisted reproduction and boosting genetic diversity could aid endangered Asian elephants - the very species providing the DNA template - with fewer than 50,000 left in the wild.

What happens if a 'mammoth' calf is born?

Releasing any large grazer into the Arctic would take years of planning: fenced trials, ecological monitoring, and consent from Indigenous communities and local governments. There are welfare issues too - who raises calves, where do they learn 'elephant culture', and how are they kept safe in brutal winters?

Colossal says it’s building partnerships in the Arctic and, crucially, plans to combine many gene edits at once rather than drip‑feeding traits over decades, to speed towards animals that can truly handle the cold.