Ben Lamm

Hear the Howl: Dallas De‑Extinction Company Colossal Biosciences Brings Back Dire Wolf Using Ancient DNA

by | Apr 7, 2025
“Game of Thrones” made them famous, but the prehistoric dire wolves were real—and, according to Colossal Biosciences, have now returned after 12,500 years in what it calls the world’s first successful de-extinction. The work goes beyond headlines: It could change how we save endangered species. Meet Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi in a video—and hear dire wolf howls for the first time in more than 12 millennia.
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Meet the Colossal Woolly Mouse, Created by Dallas-Based ‘Decacorn’ Colossal Biosciences
by | Mar 4, 2025
Before Colossal Biosciences can "de-extinct" the woolly mammoth, some small steps are in order. They've now been taken by the Colossal Woolly Mouse—a gene-edited creation with "dramatically altered coat color, texture, and thickness reminiscent of the woolly mammoth’s core phenotypes."
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Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Breakthroughs Mark 2025 Awards
D CEO and Dallas Innovates' Innovation Award winners are working to resurrect extinct species, launching autonomous trucks, reinventing military aircraft, and bringing AI into the physical world—and that's just the beginning. The 2025 awards showcase game-changing achievements—including Texas' first newly minted decacorn—across 17 categories of innovation. Here’s a look at the innovators leading the way.
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Dallas’ Colossal Biosciences Becomes Texas’ First Decacorn, Securing $10.2B Valuation With Series C Funding
by | Jan 15, 2025
Best known for its moonshot mission to revive the woolly mammoth, Colossal Biosciences has secured $200 million in Series C funding led by TWG Global. The world's first de-extinction company, founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Ben Lamm and renowned Harvard geneticist George Church, Colossal Biosciences is working to restore Earth's lost biodiversity, "making science fiction into science fact."
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Dallas’ Colossal Foundation Donates $1M to Help Save Amphibians from Mass Extinction

by | Dec 17, 2024
“Helping to stop the spread of chytrid is a necessity to ensure healthy ecosystems globally,” said Colossal Foundation Director Matt James. “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."
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Colossal Launches The Colossal Foundation with $50M for ‘BioVault’ Biobanking, Genetic Rescues, and More
by | Oct 1, 2024
The North Texas-based foundation aims to fight the "extinction crisis" with initiatives including Colossal Biovault—"the world's largest distributed biobanking initiative"—and an array of new efforts to both preserve and "de-extinct" wildlife.
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The first-ever AI 75 — the most innovative people in artificial intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth — is revealed on May 2 at Convergence AI.
Presenting the First-Ever AI 75: Meet the Most Innovative Leaders in Artificial Intelligence in Dallas-Fort Worth
by | May 2, 2024
Dallas Innovates, the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Dallas AI have teamed up to launch the inaugural AI 75 list. The 2024 program honors the most significant people in AI in DFW in seven categories—the visionaries, creators, and influencers you need to know.
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Breaking, a ‘Plastic Degradation’ Startup, Emerges from Stealth with $10.5M After Gestating at Colossal
by | Apr 17, 2024
Breaking is developing X-32, a breakthrough microbial discovery that destroys multiple types of plastic by breaking down hydrocarbon chains across different chemical structures quickly. The startup's goal is for X-32 to help address the global plastics crisis.
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Colossal Biosciences Adds Renowned Ancient DNA Expert as Chief Science Officer

by | Mar 19, 2024
Dallas-based Colossal said that in her new role, MacArthur Award winner Beth Shapiro will oversee continued expansion of the company's de-extinction and conservation science teams. The company previously announced plans to "de-extinct" the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird.
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Director of Oscar-Winning ‘My Octopus Teacher’ To Make a Docuseries on Dallas-Based Colossal Biosciences
by | Feb 21, 2024
Colossal Biosciences and production partner Teton Ridge Entertainment have signed with James Reed, director of the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary "My Octopus Teacher," and his company Underdog Films, to produce the docuseries.
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Hollywood Brand Veteran Takes CMO Helm at Colossal Biosciences to Bring De-Extinction to the Global Stage
by | Feb 2, 2024

Veteran marketing executive Emily Castel has joined Colossal Bioscience, the world’s first de-extinction company, as its first chief marketing officer, bringing her global entertainment and consumer brand experience to Colossal where she will lead global efforts to scale the company’s brand, experiences, consumer products, and emerging media properties....

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D CEO and Dallas Innovates revealed the winners of the 2024 Innovation Awards at an event on January 24, 2023 held at On the Levee in the Design District.
Meet the Winners:
D CEO, Dallas Innovates Honor Top Innovators at 2024 Awards
At the annual Innovation Awards event, Dallas Innovates and D CEO revealed the winners in 17 categories and recognized all 74 North Texas finalists.
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Colossal and Save the Elephants Use Drones and Machine Learning To Track African Elephants

by | Nov 9, 2023
Save the Elephants will deploy a small fleet of drones equipped with high resolution and infrared cameras to capture elephant behavioral data, which will then be processed by Colossal’s machine learning core to develop algorithms that will label elephants and automatically identify individual and collective social behavior.
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Here Be Dragons: Colossal Partners with Zoos Victoria To Save Reptile Once Thought Extinct
by | Oct 25, 2023
OK, it may not be as big—or as fire-breathing—as the dragons that swooped over Westeros on "Game of Thrones." But Australia's Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon is every bit as magical for simply hanging in there, decades after many thought it was extinct. Now Texas-based Colossal Biosciences is partnering to help preserve it—and sequence its genome.
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Meet the Finalists: The Innovation Awards 2024, Presented by Dallas Innovates and D CEO
by | Oct 13, 2023

Dallas Innovates and D CEO are proud to announce the finalists for its fifth annual Innovation Awards. The program honors companies, CEOs, CIOS, CTOs, entrepreneurs, and other leaders who are helping to make Dallas-Fort Worth an innovation hub....

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Edge of Extinction: Pioneering Texas Biotech Colossal and BioRescue Race to Save the Northern White Rhino Species
With only two known living female northern white rhinos left, Colossal Biosciences and BioRescue have joined forces to fend off a looming extinction of the species. At the cutting edge of science, they're harnessing genetic technologies to rewrite the rhino's fate.
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