Lab Scientists Want to Bring Back Mammoths, Instead Create Furry Mice

	Photo: From the Lab of Scientists at Colossal Biosciences

KOMPUTER JADUL-, Scientists at Colossal Biosciences have an ambitious dream of bringing the woolly mammoth back to life by 2028. On their journey to make their dream come true, they have created hundreds of adorable furry mice.

The mouse, which looks a lot like Pokemon, has been named the 'Colossal woolly mouse'. This animal is 100% mouse, but has undergone several genetic engineering processes to display several mammoth-like traits, including long fur.

Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal, said his team has so far created nearly 100 woolly mice. These mice have fur that is very similar in color, texture, and thickness to mammoth fur.

"These animals were born very healthy and they have the exact phenotype that we predicted," Lamm said, as quoted by TechCrunch, Wednesday (3/5/2025).

"The only thing we couldn't predict was the cuteness factor. They were much, much cuter than we expected", he added.

To create the furry mice, Colossal began by analyzing 121 mammoth and elephant genomes, including the Asian elephant, the mammoth's closest living relative. They compared the genomes to identify core mammoth genes that help them adapt to cold environments, such as fat metabolism and fur.

Colossal then refined this list until they found 10 genes related to fur and fat metabolism that also matched closely to mice. They then used a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to modify seven of them in the mice.

Colossal believes the thick fur could help the mice survive in the same frigid climate as mammoths did thousands of years ago. Colossal is currently awaiting approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee before starting the experiment.

The scientist, Dr. Beth Shapiro, Colossal's Chief Scientist, said they need to test the woolly mouse's tolerance to cold conditions to validate whether the gene can improve mammoth adaptation to cold environments.

Colossal's ultimate goal is not to revive the woolly mammoth, but to create an Asian elephant that has characteristics like the woolly mammoth. This animal will be a surrogate or proxy species, so it is different from the real animal that lived thousands of years ago.

In addition to woolly mammoths, Colossal is also developing proxy species for the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger and the dodo bird, two species that are now extinct. They also want to release these animals in their natural habitat.