The Trump administration likes a few things, according to Colossal Biosciences CEO and cofounder Ben Lamm: “They like technology, they like to make money, they like to save money—and they also really like to take exciting wins.”
\n\nThat’s how Colossal convinced an administration that hasn’t exactly been friendly to conserving land and wildlife to support an initiative to gather DNA samples from endangered species, Lamm told attendees at WIRED World Fair on Wednesday. Lamm’s company has garnered plenty of press for claiming to bring back dire wolves and creating wooly mice using gene editing as part of a greater effort to revive the wooly mammoth.
\n\nColossal raised $230 million in its Series C last year at a valuation of $10.2 billion. The company is looking to raise a new round that would value it at between $20 billion and $30 billion, according to reporting from Axios earlier this year. The startup has spun out multiple companies, including one that uses microbes to destroy plastic. Colossal also has a stake in Warhound, a startup Lamm developed with Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey that plans to create genetically enhanced dogs for the military, law enforcement, and first responders.
\n\nBut it’s the biobanking efforts…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/