To Ben Lamm, extinction is just an engineering problem
Visitors look at dinosaur fossil skeletons at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum on Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Los Angeles, CA. Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
ByCamille Tuutti,
Freelance Tech Writer
July 17, 2026 06:14 PM ET
Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm explains how ancient DNA, AI and CRISPR are helping scientists pursue de-extinction.
Drill into a piece of ancient bone in one spot and you get nothing. Move a quarter inch over and you get tons. Ben Lamm calls it luck of the draw and that's where resurrecting a species starts. The DNA comes from bone stored in museum drawers, permafrost cores or a cave on the South Island of New Zealand—anywhere something died cold and dry enough to preserve it for a few thousand years.
Lamm is the CEO of Colossal Biosciences, which he started in 2021 with Harvard...
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