Biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences announced a significant breakthrough in its artificial womb platform, achieving a 100% development rate in current tests. The system, designed to support full gestation outside a body, now only faces the remaining challenge of reproducing chemical signals between developmental stages. The company clarified this technology is not part of its immediate plan to birth a woolly mammoth by late 2028.
Colossal Biosciences claims it has nearly completed an artificial womb system designed to grow mammals entirely outside another animal’s body. This breakthrough could eventually support the de-extinction startup’s long-term goal of reviving the woolly mammoth.
CEO Ben Lamm said the company has solved the hardware and software, leaving chemical signaling as the final hurdle. “We are on the one-yard line of this, which is insane,” Lamm stated.
The platform uses a dialysis-like system paired with AI models and proprietary algorithms. It monitors embryo development and adjusts nutrients, gases, and chemical signals in real time.
Chief Biology Officer Andrew Pask said the team has perfected the system, noting very high development rates. “Using our system, we have hatched 26 chicks, and we are now actively monitoring these birds as they grow up,” Pask explained.
Colossal has spent the past year expanding its reproductive engineering work across multiple species. This included announcing the birth of three dire wolf pups and cloning Tom Brady’s dog, as mentioned by the athlete.
The company owns the intellectual property behind the artificial womb system and defended the project’s ethical framework. It argued controlled ex-utero development could improve survival outcomes compared to conventional breeding.
