Colossal Biosciences Launches GenoMorph AI Platform to Speed De-Extinction Work

Colossal Biosciences announced GenoMorph, a new AI platform built to help accelerate its de-extinction efforts. The platform is being used in the company’s work to bring back the dodo bird, a project complicated by limited available genome data.

The key takeaway: Colossal is trying to use AI to narrow the search for meaningful genetic differences rather than manually sorting through a broad set of possibilities.

GenoMorph uses advanced 3D morphology, comparative genomics, and developmental biology to identify genes that could be edited in de-extinction projects. Colossal said the dodo effort currently has one dodo genome to work with, compared with 100 genomes obtained for its woolly mammoth project.

The company combined developmental data from chickens, quail, ducks, and pigeons with genetic information and 3D skull measurements from more than 70 bird species. According to the article, the platform took more than a year to build and builds on Colossal’s prior de-extinction work.

The dodo project highlights a central challenge for de-extinction: ancient DNA is often incomplete, especially when species lived in climates that preserve DNA less effectively. Colossal said colder climates helped preserve more woolly mammoth DNA than the tropical environment associated with the dodo.

So far, the company says GenoMorph has identified approximately 2,300 promising DNA editing targets for dodo cranial facial morphology. The next practical milestone is testing whether those predicted edits can produce the physical traits the team is seeking.

Colossal also described a system using lipid nanoparticles to deliver gene-editing tools into developing bird embryos, a process intended to test genetic changes without waiting through a full breeding cycle. The company said its Nicobar pigeon colony now has 36 birds and that it has created the essential cells that become eggs and sperm.

Peter Diamandis, an investor in Colossal, announced NeoGenesis Capital, a new VC firm focused on backing companies using Colossal Biosciences’ programmable biology platform across health, agriculture, and conservation. For readers tracking biotech startups, the signal is clear: de-extinction tools are being positioned not only as species-restoration technology, but also as a broader programmable biology platform.