
Ben Lamm, a trailblazing entrepreneur at the forefront of cutting-edge science, is leading efforts to bring back extinct species through advanced genetic engineering. From the dodo bird of Mauritius to the woolly mammoth of the Arctic tundra, Lamm plans to return these animals to their native habitats. In April 2025, his company, Colossal Biosciences, announced a major scientific breakthrough: the successful revival of the dire wolf, a species believed to have gone extinct over a thousand years ago. Just weeks before the announcement, Lamm sat down with Spear’s Aisha Alli to share the vision behind his ambitious undertaking.
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I’ve always been attracted to science fiction and the allure of turning science fiction into science fact. Learning new things and solving hard problems is a passion of mine, so my background in fringe tech – from mobile gaming to AI and defence – means that I’ve always been on the boundaries of ‘what’s next?’.
As a technology guy, I’d envisioned my career would be spent in a lab. In reality, it couldn’t be more different. There are some days where I’m deep in the catacombs of the Smithsonian and other days where I’m meeting with tribes in Australia or donning a parka in the Arctic.
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The de-extinction event
It hadn’t been my intention to start a de-extinction company. I’d met the geneticist George Church – widely considered to be the father of synthetic biology and one of the smartest minds of our generation. At the time I was interested in building a software company at the intersection of AI and synthetic biology, and questioning how a convergence between the two could engineer life. George managed to answer the question in five minutes.

I’d asked him what project he believed to be the most crucial for humanity, one he’d pursue if he had unlimited capital. His response was instantaneous: ‘I’d create a de-extinction company to bring back the woolly mammoth and rewild it into the Arctic to help biodiversity there and build technologies to help other extinct and critically endangered species.
Seven days after our conversation, I realised I’d have to resign as the CEO of my company and build something with George.
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A colossal undertaking
I founded Colossal Biosciences, alongside George, in 2021. Since then, we’ve assembled a team of more than 170 scientists and collaborated with 17 academic labs around the world. Our company is now at the frontier of ancient DNA research to resurrect extinct species such as the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger and the dodo.
To date, the project has achieved tremendous success, with prominent investors such as Hollywood producer Peter Jackson and Mark Walter, owner of the LA Dodgers, coming on board. We’ve raised $435 million in funding and, most significantly, our first woolly mammoth calves are expected to be born as early as 2028.

Modern conservation
Like any ambitious initiative, de-extinction has its critics. It’s understandable that people would prefer we focus our efforts on conservation rather than de-extinction, but, fundamentally, modern conservation can’t work at the pace of species eradication.
In fact, the technology we’ve developed at Colossal is as vital for de-extinction as it is for conservation. For example, we’ve used our research to develop a vaccine that confers resistance to elephants against an Ebola-like virus that kills 20 per cent more elephants a year than poachers do.
For some critics, it’s a fear of the unknown. We often hear the Jurassic Park comparison, but that’s nothing more than a scripted movie. Interestingly, George’s work from the Seventies appears in Michael Crichton’s book, so we joke that he inspired the story, but there’s no [preserved] dinosaur DNA. You can’t resurrect a dinosaur.
What’s most gratifying, though, is receiving hand-drawn pictures of woolly mammoths from children, with notes thanking us for our work on this project. It feels like we’re making science cool.
Find out more about Colossal Biosciences here.
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 95. Click here to subscribe
