Colossal Biosciences plans frozen biovault to store samples from 10,000 species

Colossal Biosciences, the company behind the de-extinction of the extinct dire wolf last year, is planning to build a frozen biovault facility for endangered species.

The company plans to build the new facility, The Colossal Biovault and World Preservation Lab, Museum of the Future in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to store biological samples from 10,000 species, including the 100 most endangered globally.

The American genetics and biosciences company was able to de-extinct the dire wolf in April last year. It successfully used the species’ ancient DNA and created three wolves, two males and one female. 

Experts note that the exact genetic replica of an extinct animal cannot be recreated; however, they credited the company for producing what they called a hybrid of dire wolf and grey wolf.

The Dallas-based company plans to use the facility for research on endangered species and potentially revive them if they were to go extinct.

Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm said that the frozen vault will be the same as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic Circle, which is preserving over 1.4 million seed samples.

In an interview with CNN, Lamm said, “We need to start backing up all life on Earth,” adding that the pace at which species are going extinct is faster than conservation efforts can keep up.