Is technology moving too fast? Scientists hatch chicks from artificial eggs for the first time

Precious Omolu 08:56 - 20 May 2026

Add Pulse as a preferred source on Google

Colossal Biosciences has successfully hatched healthy chicks from fully artificial eggs, a breakthrough that could pave the way for the return of the extinct Dodo and Moa.

Colossal Biosciences successfully hatches chicks from an artificial egg, a breakthrough that could help revive extinct birds like the dodo and giant moa.

Colossal Biosciences has successfully hatched live chicks from a fully artificial egg for the first time.
The technology could help save endangered birds and support efforts to revive extinct species like the dodo and the giant moa.
CEO Ben Lamm said the company could potentially bring back the moa in the early to mid-2030s.

Texas-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences has achieved a major breakthrough in its mission to revive extinct species after successfully hatching live chicks from a fully artificial egg for the first time.

The development marks a significant step for the company, which is already known for ambitious de-extinction projects involving the dire wolf, woolly mammoth, dodo, and the giant moa bird once native to New Zealand.

According to the company, the artificial egg allows bird embryos to grow completely outside a natural shell while scientists monitor every stage of development from embryo formation to hatching.

After engineering a system that mimics natural oxygen transfer, scientists successfully hatched 26 healthy chicks without the need for a natural mother or shell.

Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm said the team successfully hatched 26 healthy chickens during the experiment.

“We didn’t just copy nature,” Lamm declared. “We tried to re-engineer it.”

The chicks are expected to live normally at the company’s avian research facility, but Colossal believes the technology could eventually change bird conservation efforts worldwide.

The biotech firm says the innovation could help endangered bird species with low hatch success rates while also creating a pathway toward bringing extinct birds like the dodo and moa back to life.

Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm

Unlike mammal-focused projects where modern animals can act as surrogates, reviving giant birds presents a different challenge entirely. In the case of the moa, there is no living bird capable of incubating an egg of that size.

The extinct moa once stood as tall as 13 feet and weighed up to 500 pounds, making it one of the largest birds to ever exist. Its egg was estimated to be nearly eight times larger than an emu egg.

To solve the problem, Colossal created a biologically accurate artificial egg using titanium and a specially engineered silicone membrane that mimics how natural eggs transfer oxygen to developing embryos.

The company explained that the new system actually improves oxygen transfer compared to normal chicken eggs, helping avoid problems that affected earlier shell-less embryo experiments decades ago.

Scientists tested the system using chicken embryos, closely observing development through a small portal built into the artificial egg. The chicks were even able to peck against the shell when ready to hatch.

“The avian reproductive toolkit has lagged behind mammalian systems for decades because birds present unique developmental challenges,” said Beth Shapiro. “The artificial egg changes that.”

Because no living bird is large enough to incubate a Moa egg, Colossal is using titanium and silicone technology to build artificial "incubators" for the giant extinct species.

The moa resurrection project is being developed alongside the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and filmmaker Peter Jackson, best known for directing The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Jackson said the project could also support the protection of endangered wildlife in New Zealand for future generations.

Instead of creating a “Jurassic Park”-style attraction, Colossal says any revived moa would eventually be returned to natural habitats in New Zealand.

Lamm believes the company could potentially create the first revived moa sometime in the early to mid-2030s.

The company has already made progress on its dodo project after announcing in 2025 that scientists successfully grew pigeon primordial germ cells, the early cells that later develop into sperm and eggs.

While the goal is to revive lost species, Colossal believes this "avian reproductive toolkit" can be used to save currently endangered birds with low natural hatching rates.

Lamm suggested the dodo could return within the next four or five years, adding that each breakthrough makes future de-extinction projects easier to tackle.

“So as you layer on additional extinct species in a certain workflow, I wouldn’t say they get easier, but you don’t have to design the system from scratch,” he said. “You just have to do the work.”

Before attempting a full moa incubation, Colossal plans additional testing using larger bird eggs such as those from emus or ostriches.

Lamm said he hopes seeing extinct animals like the moa alive again will inspire people to take conservation more seriously.

“Hopefully they see now we’re using a different form of innovation and technology to undo the sins of the past, as well as use those same technologies to help conservation,” he said.