Dallas-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences has a vision: “Let's see Woolly Mammoth (hairy mammoth) alive in the tundra once again”.
The founders of the company George Church and Ben Lamm have already assembled an impressive list of high-profile funders and investors. They include Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital and, according to the public portfolio released this month, the CIA.
Colossal says that he hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals – not just the giant mammoth from the Ice Age, but also a medium-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, which died nearly a century ago.
On its website, the company states:
"By combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we are trying to jumpstart the heartbeat of her ancestors natureς ”.
Η In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a non-profit venture capital firm funded by the CIA.
The group was founded to fund startups businesses technology that has the potential to protect national security.
In addition to the CIA's long-standing pursuit of technologies intelligence and weapons, the agency has recently shown an increased interest in biotechnology and especially DNA sequence.
