Scientists are working on a wooly mammoth hybrid, presumably so we can make it extinct for a second time
Biotech startup Colossal wants to make a new kind of wooly mammoth/elephant hybrid
The Verge reports that a biotech startup named Colossal is working on giving us a new kind of wooly mammoth by adding traits from the extinct animal’s DNA into that of an elephant’s. Before you get too excited about an opportunity to ride one of these giant beasts around, the article also says the project “is in very early stages and is mired in ethical quandaries.”
These quandaries mostly relate to the supposed environmental benefits that Colossal believes its shaggy Frankenstein’s monster could create. The startup’s goal is to “create a hybrid between a wooly mammoth and its distant relative… the Asian elephant, which itself is an endangered species.” The resulting creature would be “a furrier, fatter elephant with smaller ears and a high-domed head.” (To be fair, this thing sounds adorable.)