Share to ClassroomColossal Hatches Chicks From Artificial Eggshells
Colossal Biosciences is a Texas company that wants to bring extinct animals back to life. On Tuesday, it said it had hatched 26 baby chickens inside an artificial eggshell. The company calls this a big step toward reviving extinct birds. The system uses a soft membrane (a thin layer) and a 3D-printed frame that copies how a real shell gives oxygen to the chick inside.
Colossal hopes to use this idea for much bigger eggs. Its main goal is to bring back the moa, a tall bird from New Zealand that humans killed about 600 years ago. The moa was three metres tall. Its eggs were about 80 times bigger than chicken eggs, so no living bird can carry one. Colossal is working with a New Zealand research centre and with film director Peter Jackson, who has also given the company money.
But other scientists say people should be careful. The news came in a press release, with no proper scientific paper. One biologist says the device is only an artificial shell, not a full egg, because it still needs parts from a real egg. Another expert asks where a moa would even live today. Next, Colossal plans to test the system with emu and ostrich eggs. The boss says a moa might come back by the early 2030s.
