Remember Colossal Biosciences? They’re the company trying very hard to convince the public they’re basically the real-life version of John Hammond’s operation from Jurassic Park. To be fair, there is legitimate science happening there. A lot of what Colossal sells as “de-extinction” is just branding, though.
Back in April 2025, headlines shouted that the company had brought back dire wolves. Wow! Dig into it even a little, and you’ll find out they aren’t really bringing back extinct animals, just genetically modifying currently existing ones to kind of sort of look like the extinct ones.
It’s genetically engineered cosplay. Still impressive, just not quite what they claim it to be.
Still, Colossal is absolutely trying to recreate species that vanished centuries ago. Now the company wants to bring back the dodo and the giant moa, a giant bird from New Zealand that once stood taller than some NBA point guards. But to do that, the company needs to engage in the age-old chicken or the egg debate, since before you can resurrect an extinct bird, you need an egg that can incubate it. The company says it’s made one.
Hatching Chickens in Tiny Spaceships
Researchers at the company unveiled a 3D-printed artificial egg system that has already successfully hatched more than two dozen healthy chickens. The artificial egg kind of looks like the filter in your dishwasher. It kind of looks like one of the conical tapered ends of a sleek Bluetooth speaker. There is a rigid outer shell with dozens of hexagonal honeycomb-like cutouts that provide structure. Within that is a permeable membrane that regulates oxygen flow the way a natural eggshell does.
It’s slightly more than a proof of concept. Colossal Biosciences has announced that it has already hatched 26 live chickens using its artificial eggs. So they seem to have the egg half of it fairly well developed; now they just have to do the dodo half of it. That might prove a little trickier.
NPR reports that Dodo embryos could theoretically be grown from genetically edited Nicobar pigeon cells. Similarly, Moa embryos could come from modified emu cells. There is no living bird capable of carrying massive moa eggs, so they had to invent their own egg technology first. Time will tell if they can truly bring a pair of extinct birds back from the dead, but even if they don’t, this artificial egg tech could, in itself, be revolutionary, completely changing the way conservationists bring endangered birds and reptiles back from the brink of extinction.
The post Why This Company Grew 26 Live Chickens in 3D-Printed Artificial Eggs appeared first on VICE.
