Colossal Biosciences bills itself as the “de-extinction company” and is seeking to bring back the woolly mammoth, the thylacine (aka the Tasmanian tiger) and the dodo. Onstage at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin a couple weeks ago, co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told me all about why the company wants to do that. You can watch the entire conversation above.
We touch on a lot of different things during the conversation, including why Lamm switched from space and national defense to resuscitating long-dead mammals and birds. The serial entrepreneur also goes deep on how the work Colossal is doing now will actually help prevent other species from following in the footsteps of the animals it’s trying to bring back — and how it’s giving away the technologies it develops to help make that happen.
Lamm also talks about how the company deals with the skepticism and criticism directed at Colossal and its mission, and why the startup definitely isn’t interested in producing animals to satisfy the unusual appetites of the bored rich — unlike maybe some other companies out there. And I also asked about a personal passion of mine, which, unfortunately, is not on Colossal’s product roadmap at the moment, according to Lamm.