The company best known for promising to resurrect the woolly mammoth just landed a contract to build a genetic backup drive for every endangered species in America. Colossal Biosciences and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are partnering to collect tissue from, sequence the genomes of, and cryopreserve samples for all 2,300-plus species listed under the Endangered Species Act. That’s not a press release flourish — it’s the most ambitious conservation genomics project ever attempted in a single country, and it raises questions as big as its ambitions.
How the Genomic Backup Drive Works
FWS collects the samples; Colossal freezes, sequences, and publishes the resulting data at no cost.
The division of labor is straightforward. FWS field teams collect tissue, cells, and reproductive samples from listed species across the country. Colossal stores them in its BioVault network at roughly −320°F using liquid nitrogen, then generates whole-genome sequences deposited into open-access repositories. Why does a species-specific reference genome matter? USC researchers found that using a gray fox’s own genome — rather than a close relative’s — revealed 26–32% more genetic variation among individuals and estimated population sizes 30–60% higher. Numbers like that fundamentally change how managers classify risk and design interventions.
- All 2,300+ ESA-listed plants and animals included
- Tissue, cells, and reproductive samples cryopreserved at approximately −320°F
- Whole-genome data freely available in open-access repositories
- Restrictions protect tribal sovereignty and poaching-sensitive location data
- Genomic resources enable assisted reproduction, breeding management, and potential future species restoration
The Mammoth in the Room
Colossal’s de-extinction brand carries real baggage that conservation genomics doesn’t need.
Colossal’s “dire wolf” — the announcement that generated headlines like a Marvel trailer drop — involved a limited set of genetic edits in gray wolves. Scientists pushed back on whether that constitutes de-extinction in any meaningful sense. Now this same company sits inside the framework of America’s most consequential wildlife law. That tension deserves scrutiny, not a shrug.
The potential upside is genuine. USGS researchers argue that incorporating genomic “adaptive potential” into ESA decisions is critical as climate change reshapes habitats. Researchers working on Australia’s Threatened Species Initiative — a comparable national-scale model — have shown that genomics can “empower practitioners to access and apply genomic data to their decision-making,” especially through accessible online platforms. The science, applied well, sharpens every recovery plan and breeding decision.
But genomics doesn’t protect a single acre of habitat. Critics reasonably ask whether attaching Colossal’s de-extinction spectacle to bread-and-butter conservation risks draining political energy from land protection and pollution reduction. Think of it like backing up your photos to the cloud while your house is flooding — useful, but not the most urgent priority.
What Actually Matters Next
The genomic data is only as valuable as the ecosystems still standing when the sequencing finishes.
If this project delivers, it becomes a template other nations could replicate under their own endangered-species laws. Genomic data could sharpen court arguments over critical habitat, guide translocation decisions, and inform AI-driven extinction-risk models that don’t yet exist at scale. A freezer full of frozen brain tissue is insurance, not salvation — and the species on that list still need somewhere to live.
