The Colossal Foundation, the Dallas-based nonprofit arm of Colossal BioSciences has made an initial $1 million donation of its $3 million commitment to the Pask & Frankenberg Lab at the University of Melbourne in Australia to advance research and conservation efforts against chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease responsible for the extinction of at least 90 amphibian species worldwide and significant declines in over 500 other species.

“We built The Colossal Foundation to be able to take our technology and our relationships and apply them to the most pressing biodiversity challenges of our time, immediately,” Colossal’s Dallas-based CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm said in a statement. “Working on chytrid with novel gene-editing technologies is exactly the sort of work we want to be supporting.”

The foundation said that the fungal disease impacts one out of every 16 species of amphibian known to the scientific community.

“Helping to stop the spread of chytrid is a necessity to ensure healthy ecosystems globally,” Colossal Foundation Director Matt James said in a statement. “This isn’t optional. We have to give frogs a fighting chance and ensure they remain a vital part of our planet’s biodiversity for generations to come. This imperative is why we invested in the work that Dr. (Stephen) Frankenberg and Dr. (Andrew) Pask are committed to.”

A potential ‘game-changer for amphibian conservation’

Since first appearing in the late 1970s, chytrid fungus has spread to more than 60 countries, but Australia, Central America, and South America are particularly hard hit, the foundation said. The fungus has caused more species extinctions than any other known pathogen and continues its deadly progression.

The fungus spreads by touch or by water, with zoospores even capable of swimming a short distance. In the right conditions, chytrid can live outside of its host for weeks, months or potentially years at a time, the foundation said.

The foundation, which was formed earlier this fall by Colossal Biosciences, said its contribution will fund research into novel genetic strategies that could confer immunity from chytrid infection in numerous threatened species.

Led by Frankenberg, the research will investigate the use of candidate factors that could be exploited to engineer immunity to frogs, complementing their own immune system and providing a first-line of defense against the chytrid.

Using cane toad as a model

The foundation said the researchers will use the cane toad, an invasive pest species in Australia, as a model for developing the technology before applying it to threatened species such as the great spotted tree frog, green and golden bell frog, and corroboree frog.

“This funding will allow us to finally test a novel approach that we have recently been developing,” Frankenberg said. “It will exploit new immunology approaches and information from sequencing strategies that have only recently been accessible.”

“We’re deeply grateful for this extraordinary gift,” Pask said. “If we’re successful, it will be a game-changer for amphibian conservation.”

A critical role in the ecosystem

The foundation said that amphibians play a critical role in ecosystems as pest controllers, bioindicators of environmental health, and essential components of food chains.

They are among the most threatened groups of animals, with chytrid fungus being a primary driver of declines, the foundation said. If left unchecked, widescale amphibian loss will also have negative impacts on humans, the foundation said. Amphibians play a key role in reducing human disease vectors, such as mosquitos carrying malaria, and provide sources of novel medicinal compounds.

“If all these reasons aren’t enough,” said Frankenberg, “amphibians are also simply fascinating and cute.”

The $3 million donation will be distributed in three $1 million allocations over the next three years supporting the work of Frankenberg, Pask, and other PhDs in their labs as the project progresses.

Building on Colossal’s recent advances

The chytrid project builds on research developed by Colossal in pursuit of the company’s efforts to de-extinct the woolly mammoth, dodo, and thylacine while building a universally impactful de-extinction toolkit.

That toolkit is a combination of software and hardware tools, genomic innovations, scientific processes, and more.

The foundation said that the approach being used by the chytrid team builds in particular on Colossal’s recent advances in multiplex DNA editing techniques developed by the Thylacine team. The commitment to translate these advances directly to protect and conserve living, threatened species solidifies Colossal’s commitment to conserve, preserve, and restore fragile ecosystems.

The foundation said that its investment builds on previous research funded by public and private organizations around the world, including The U.S. National Science Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Revive & Restore, and the Smithsonian Institution and Center for Conservation Genomics, and the Amphibian Survival Alliance.

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