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African species that disappeared over two centuries ago returns to the center of a scientific debate involving ancient DNA, genetic editing, conservation of endangered antelopes, and the limit between recovering traits of extinct animals and recreating organisms capable of living in transformed environments.
Colossal Biosciences announced that it intends to recreate the bluebuck, an African species extinct around 1800, using DNA preserved in a museum and genetic editing applied to the roan antelope, considered one of the closest living relatives.
Based in Dallas, United States, the biotechnology company states that the project has already entered the genomic editing phase and anticipates the birth of an animal with characteristics similar to the bluebuck in the coming years.
Known for initiatives involving woolly mammoth, dodo, thylacine, moa, and dire wolf, Colossal has included the bluebuck as the sixth species in its portfolio of projects called “de-extinction.”
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Also called bluebuck, the antelope lived in the Cape region, in the current territory of South Africa, and is cited as the first large African mammal extinct in historical times.
Among the factors linked to the species’ disappearance are hunting, colonial expansion, habitat reduction, and competition for grazing areas, pressures that accelerated the end of an already restricted population.
Museum DNA guides attempt to recreate the bluebuck
To reconstruct the species’ genome, Colossal scientists obtained genetic material primarily from a mounted skin of a young male preserved at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
With this material, the team compared bluebuck sequences with those of living antelopes and focused part of the analysis on the roan antelope, used as a genetic reference to advance laboratory stages.
This comparison, according to the company, helps identify variants associated with the physical traits of the extinct animal, such as the bluish-gray coat, the light patch in front of the eyes, and the long, curved horns.
Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal, told Reuters that the project has reached the stage where edits and genes of the bluebuck are introduced into roan antelope cells.
After this phase, the company intends to create embryos in the laboratory and implant them in female roan antelopes, which would serve as surrogate mothers during an estimated nine-month gestation.
Bluebuck technologies can support threatened antelopes
According to Colossal’s assessment, the work with the bluebuck would not only have symbolic value, as technologies developed in the process could be used in programs aimed at living antelopes threatened with extinction.
Among the advancements disclosed by the company are the collection of roan antelope eggs and the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells, a technique that reprograms adult cells to a more versatile state.
Protocols of this type, according to the company, can contribute to assisted reproduction, genetic banks, and recovery of diversity in small populations, a recurring concern in isolated or declining species.
Data released by Colossal itself indicates that there are about 90 species of antelopes in the world, of which 29 are threatened with extinction and 55 have declining populations.
In the African continent, species like hirola, dama gazelle, and addax are among the most concerning cases, affected by habitat loss, hunting, human pressure, and population fragmentation.
For Lamm, the visibility of “de-extinction” projects can direct attention and investment to the biodiversity crisis, although the executive himself acknowledges that this approach does not represent a single solution.
Scientists question the scope of so-called de-extinction
Despite the company’s enthusiasm, part of the scientific community questions whether animals created by genetic editing can be considered the real return of a species that disappeared centuries ago.
For critics of the initiative, the result tends to be a modern organism genetically modified to exhibit traits of an extinct species, rather than a complete reproduction of the original animal.
This debate gained momentum after the announcement of the dire wolves by Colossal, when experts pointed out that the pups would be gray wolves altered to present characteristics associated with the extinct animal.
The project is also weighed down by doubts about the ecological fate of the bluebuck, because the landscape that once housed the species has changed over more than two centuries of human occupation and environmental transformation.
Even among researchers who see technological merit in the project, there is concern about the distribution of resources, as many living species face immediate risk and depend on habitat protection, monitoring, and controlled reproduction.
Recent conservation experiences indicate that traditional actions still hold weight, such as the reintroduction of the scimitar oryx, reclassified from extinct in the wild to endangered by the IUCN in December 2023.
Colossal attracts investors and expands biotechnological ambition
Founded in 2021 by Ben Lamm and Harvard University geneticist George Church, Colossal gained prominence by announcing the goal of creating genetically modified Asian elephants with woolly mammoth traits.
Since then, the company has expanded its agenda to include extinct species of birds, marsupials, and mammals, always combining ancient DNA sequencing, genetic editing, cloning, and assisted reproduction.
In September 2025, Colossal itself reported having reached $555 million in total funding, after an additional round of $120 million linked to the dodo program.
Among the publicly disclosed investors are high-profile names like filmmaker Peter Jackson, as well as funds and groups focused on technology, bioscience, and innovation.
In the case of the bluebuck, the company claims to work with conservation partners and plans an eventual reintroduction in an area linked to the species’ historical distribution in southern Africa.
Even so, the timeline depends on the completion of genetic edits, the production of viable embryos, implantation in surrogate females, and the survival of the offspring after birth.
The debate around the bluebuck brings together cutting-edge science, biotechnological marketing, and practical conservation, but its real impact will depend less on the announcement and more on the results verified in the field.
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