Colossal Biosciences announces new AI platform to help accelerate de-extinction efforts

Colossal Biosciences announced Wednesday a new AI platform to help accelerate its efforts to bring back extinct species, TechCrunch can exclusively report. The platform, called GenoMorph, uses advanced 3D morphology, comparative genomics, and developmental biology to identify genes that could be edited in de-extinction projects with limited gene data.

Colossal Biosciences 周三宣布推出一个新的 AI 平台，旨在帮助加速其复活灭绝物种的工作，TechCrunch 独家报道了这一消息。该平台名为 GenoMorph，利用先进的 3D 形态学、比较基因组学和发育生物学，来识别在基因数据有限的复活项目中可以进行编辑的基因。

The company is using it as part of its effort to bring back the dodo bird, for which there are limited genomes to work with. For example, the company is working with only one dodo genome compared to the 100 genomes it has been able to obtain as part of its woolly mammoth de-extinction project. DNA from the woolly mammoth is more plentiful because the colder climates the animal lived in preserve the DNA better than the tropics where the dodo lived, the company said.

该公司正将其用于复活渡渡鸟的努力中，因为可供研究的渡渡鸟基因组非常有限。例如，该公司目前仅拥有一个渡渡鸟基因组，而其长毛象复活项目则获得了 100 个基因组。该公司表示，长毛象的 DNA 更为丰富，因为这种动物生活的寒冷气候比渡渡鸟生活的热带地区更能保存 DNA。

“Normally, scientists can compare many genomes to understand which genetic differences are responsible for certain traits,” Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm told TechCrunch. “We don’t have that luxury with ancient DNA from extinct species whose DNA is severely limited, and we can only get a small number of complete genomes.”

“通常情况下，科学家可以通过比较多个基因组来了解哪些遗传差异导致了某些特征，”Colossal 首席执行官兼联合创始人 Ben Lamm 告诉 TechCrunch。“但在处理灭绝物种的古 DNA 时，我们没有这种奢侈，因为它们的 DNA 极其有限，我们只能获得少数几个完整的基因组。”

To build GenoMorph, Lamm said the company collected a bunch of developmental data from “chickens, quail, ducks, and pigeons,” and combined it with the “genetic information and 3D skull measurements from more than 70 bird species.” He said it took more than a year of work to build this platform, which also builds on the company’s years of work in de-extinction.

为了构建 GenoMorph，Lamm 表示公司收集了来自“鸡、鹌鹑、鸭子和鸽子”的大量发育数据，并将其与“超过 70 种鸟类的遗传信息和 3D 头骨测量数据”相结合。他说，构建该平台花费了一年多的时间，这也建立在该公司多年来在物种复活领域的工作基础之上。

“The AI learns which regions of DNA are active as different birds develop their beaks and facial structures, and uses that information to predict which genetic switches may have given the dodo its iconic appearance.” He said to think of the platform as a “treasure map for the dodo genome,” where, rather than searching through a bunch of potential genetic differences, GenoMorph can help the Colossal team find only the genetic differences that matter.

“AI 会学习当不同鸟类发育喙和面部结构时，哪些 DNA 区域是活跃的，并利用这些信息预测哪些基因开关可能赋予了渡渡鸟标志性的外观。”他说，可以将该平台视为“渡渡鸟基因组的藏宝图”，GenoMorph 不必在大量潜在的遗传差异中进行搜索，而是可以帮助 Colossal 团队仅找到那些至关重要的遗传差异。

“So far we’ve identified approximately 2,300 promising DNA editing targets for the dodo cranial facial morphology that we can now test in the lab,” he continued. He said GenoMorph will help the company tackle one of its biggest bottlenecks in trying to de-extinct animals — finding out which changes actually make an extinct species unique.

“到目前为止，我们已经确定了大约 2,300 个有希望的渡渡鸟颅面形态 DNA 编辑目标，现在可以在实验室中进行测试，”他继续说道。他说，GenoMorph 将帮助公司解决在尝试复活动物时遇到的最大瓶颈之一——找出哪些变化真正使一个灭绝物种变得独特。

But Lamm said scientists also need to test whether those edits can create the physical traits they need. “We’ve developed a new system that uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver gene-editing tools directly into developing bird embryos,” he said. This will help the team see how certain genetic changes impact the development of a bird “without having to wait through an entire breeding cycle that requires birds to reach sexual maturity.”

但 Lamm 表示，科学家还需要测试这些编辑是否能产生他们所需的物理特征。“我们开发了一种新系统，利用脂质纳米颗粒将基因编辑工具直接输送到发育中的鸟类胚胎中，”他说。这将帮助团队观察某些基因变化如何影响鸟类的发育，“而无需等待鸟类达到性成熟的整个繁殖周期。”

The company also announced Wednesday that its Nicobar pigeon colony now has 36 birds and that it has successfully created the essential cells that become eggs and sperm. “Because the Nicobar pigeon is the dodo’s closest living relative, those cells are a critical part of our strategy for creating birds that carry dodo traits,” he said.

该公司周三还宣布，其尼科巴鸠种群目前已有 36 只鸟，并且已经成功培育出成为卵子和精子所需的关键细胞。“由于尼科巴鸠是渡渡鸟现存最近的亲属，这些细胞是我们培育携带渡渡鸟特征的鸟类策略的关键部分，”他说。

Next, the company is hoping to prove what GenoMorph predicts in a lab. “What’s most exciting is that we’re reaching a point where the different technologies we’ve been developing are starting to converge together and help other projects we are working on in a completely different part of the tree of life,” Lamm continued.

接下来，该公司希望在实验室中验证 GenoMorph 的预测。“最令人兴奋的是，我们正达到一个临界点，我们一直在开发的不同技术开始融合在一起，并帮助我们在生命之树完全不同部分进行的其他项目，”Lamm 继续说道。

When asked whether it was safe to edit genes this way, Lamm said the point of developing a technology like GenoMorph is to make genetic engineering “more precise, controlled, and testable.” He said the product doesn’t edit genes itself, but helps their team identify which genetic changes are worth investigating.

当被问及以这种方式编辑基因是否安全时，Lamm 表示，开发像 GenoMorph 这样的技术的目的，是为了使基因工程“更加精确、可控且可测试”。他说，该产品本身并不编辑基因，而是帮助他们的团队确定哪些遗传变化值得研究。

“Identifying a potential edit doesn’t mean we immediately introduce it into an animal or assume it’s safe,” he continued. “The more precisely we can identify and validate these changes, the more informed our decisions become throughout the process.”

“确定一个潜在的编辑并不意味着我们立即将其引入动物体内或假设它是安全的，”他继续说道。“我们越精确地识别和验证这些变化，我们在整个过程中所做的决策就越明智。”

Meanwhile, Colossal Biosciences’ latest technology has already obtained a vote of confidence from XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis. Diamandis, who is an investor in Colossal, announced on Wednesday that he has founded a new VC firm, NeoGenesis Capital, to back companies using Colossal Biosciences’ programmable biology platform across health, agriculture, and conservation.

与此同时，Colossal Biosciences 的最新技术已经获得了 XPRIZE 创始人 Peter Diamandis 的信任投票。作为 Colossal 的投资者，Diamandis 周三宣布他成立了一家新的风险投资公司 NeoGenesis Capital，旨在支持在健康、农业和保护领域使用 Colossal Biosciences 可编程生物学平台的公司。