AI Identifies 2,300 Genetic Targets to Clone Extinct Dodo

A massive hurdle has fallen for the project to resurrect the dodo. Researchers at US biotech firm Colossal Biosciences have used artificial intelligence to pinpoint thousands of genetic switches tied directly to the bird's unique look. The goal is clear: recreate some of that extinct creature's most recognizable features in its closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon.

Scientists say their AI platform has found more than 2,300 pieces of regulatory DNA linked to the dodo's characteristic skull and beak. This list serves as a genetic roadmap. It gives researchers specific targets they can now test and potentially edit into living birds.

Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal, explained why this matters. 'De-extinction is as much a data problem as a biology problem,' he stated. 'Because so few dodo genomes survive, we cannot rely on the population-level comparisons available for many living species.' He added that their platform provides another path. It learns how regulatory DNA shapes living birds, then identifies the genetic switches that may have contributed to the dodo's distinctive anatomy. This is more than a solution for the dodo. It provides a repeatable approach for extinct species whose genomic records are similarly limited.

Regulatory DNA does not provide instructions for building an animal like ordinary genes do. Instead, it acts as a collection of switches that control when and where those instructions activate during development. Using a newly developed AI system called GenoMorph, scientists analyzed genetic information from living bird species and compared it with detailed measurements of their skulls and beaks.

The team built what it describes as an avian regulatory atlas using hundreds of samples from chickens, quail, ducks and pigeons, covering multiple stages of embryonic development. Researchers then combined that data with scans and genome information from more than 70 bird species, including the Nicobar pigeon. The AI identified 653 candidate regulatory elements associated with beak size and a further 1,698 linked to beak thickness and breadth.

Scientists stress the findings do not yet prove that the genetic switches caused these traits. However, they have provided a shortlist of targets that can now be tested experimentally and potentially edited into living birds.

This announcement marks the latest milestone in Colossal's ambitious dodo programme. The company said it has expanded its colony of Nicobar pigeons in Texas, with the population now standing at 36 birds. It has also developed a new gene-editing delivery system capable of inserting DNA, RNA and CRISPR-based tools into developing bird embryos. Together, these advances provide what Colossal says is the technological foundation needed to eventually recreate key traits of the long-extinct dodo.