Got this from 1440 (https://join1440.com/) and thought it was interesting, especially the part about the CIA being a funding source...
Biotechnology startup Colossal announced plans (https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-a/) yesterday to develop an organism gene-edited to match the extinct dodo bird, the company's third so-called "de-extinction" project after the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger (see 101 https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-f/). The Texas-based group revealed it had raised $150M in its latest funding round at an estimated $1B valuation.
The last sighting of a dodo, a tall, flightless bird (https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-z/) native to the island of Mauritius off the coast of Madagascar, was recorded in the late 17th century, less than one hundred years after Europeans arrived.
The procedure will likely involve the insertion of a bird egg cell modified as a dodo cell (https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-v/) into an existing egg, with the fertilized egg expected to mature and harbor dodo-like reproductive cells.
The novel procedure has attracted investment (https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-e/) from the venture capital arm of the US Central Intelligence Agency, In-Q-Tel, a firm looking to fund cutting-edge technology it believes could be useful for intelligence gathering. See the projects In-Q-Tel supports here (https://news.join1440.com/t/j-l-emtidl-dydldrjtjk-s/).
#jurassicpark #de-extinction #extinction #cia #governmentfunding