Celebrities are investing in this new company to bring back extinct animals

What happens when you mix Jurassic Park, The Avengers, and Indiana Jones in real life? You get Colossal. The inventions from Texas-based entrepreneur Ben Lamm’s companies may sound like a Hollywood movie, and not-surprisingly, Hollywood is flocking to one company in particular to get involved.

While there are numerous celebrities touting energy drinks, beauty lines, and selling apparel, there is generally a lot of white space between influencers and the deep-science technology companies that build the transformative solutions of tomorrow.

Colossal Biosciences, co-founded by Lamm and famed geneticist George Church, is coloring in that white space in more ways than one. First, by building a de-extinction company that sounds like a Hollywood Blockbuster, and second, by welcoming those in the entertainment industry who are inspired by the company’s bold vision driven by Lamm.

Investors of Colossal – which launched three years ago – include a who’s who of sport and entertainment. A-listers include Legendary Pictures founder and technology billionaire Thomas Tull as well as famed-filmmaker Peter Jackson. Advisors include notable figures like former Disney Executive and CEO of Candle Media Kevin Mayer and former HBO Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly. And of course there are the celebrity investors, including NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, socialite and DJ Paris Hilton, golfer Tiger Woods, business coaching guru Tony Robbins, and actors and animal activists like the Hemsworth brothers and Seth Green, to name a few.

“As soon as I knew what Ben Lamm was doing and how out of the box his thinking was, I had to be involved,” said professional football player and businessman Tom Brady to Newsweek. “I meet a lot of people in my line of work but Ben and George Church’s innate knowledge and mission-driven approach convinced me that they can not only bring back extinct species but save endangered animals today. And, make it cool enough that parents and kids also want to get included.”

Lamm’s last company, Hypergiant, built a heads-up display for government organizations like NASA and Space Force, where Lamm worked with Hollywood insiders – including everyone’s favorite science-educator, Bill Nye. The various projects invoked journalists to compare Hypergiant to a real-life Stark Industries. And with Colossal focused on bringing back the iconic Woolly Mammoth, Dodo, and Thylacine, it seems even more cut from the Hollywood cloth with many journalists, critics and consumers drawing parallels between the company and Jurassic Park.

“We get that a lot,” Lamm says with a smile. “We don’t discourage it. I’m a fan, just like everyone else. While the movie didn’t get the science exactly right Jurassic Park did a great job educating the world about the possibilities of genome engineering.”

The method for de-extincting animals isn’t the same as those used in the movie; it’s more the reverse, Lamm explained. In the movie, the science team took frog DNA and edited it into dinosaur DNA to fill the missing holes. However, Colossal’s team of scientists found that taking modern DNA from a living species and comparing it to ancient DNA using AI technology would allow them to make the necessary edits to today’s animals in order to engineer these species back into existence.

What is also fascinating is that the ancient DNA Colossal is acquiring is found not only in the catacombs of museum basements, but also through expeditions to some of the furthest points in the world. Like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, Lamm and his team are constantly on the move looking for bones while exploring caves of Mauritius, trekking in the Arctic, searching for frozen mammoth remains, or doing ecological surveys in central Tasmania for the thylacine.

Lamm, a Board Member of the famed Explorers Club (which boasts members such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos), credits the organization as a key partner in Colossal’s international partnerships and sample acquisitions. Lamm often repeats, that “expeditions are just adventures with a purpose,” which he heard from The Explorers Club CEO and adventurer, Richard Garriott.

Lamm found genetic engineering, ancient DNA recovery, and bioinformatics science fascinating not just because it could bring back animals in a way previously reserved for the special effects team, but because he has long been worried about the impact of climate change on animal populations and the “sixth great extinction moment,” which he explained humanity faces.

“Most people don’t know that by 2050, in just twenty-five years, we could lose half of all the plant and animal species in the world. That would impact our food, water, and general health in ways that would cripple society. Our de-extinction science grabs a lot of headlines, but it’s also necessary to ensure the protection of our species,” said Lamm. That might sound like a Hollywood doomsday scenario but it’s one that The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other conservation organizations claim is coming to our doorstep.

However, Lamm’s belief that this mass extinction can be stopped with the right technological solutions, paired with a lot of community action, has resonated in Hollywood. Celebrities want to not only support Lamm and the company, but also become vocal activists for the extinction crisis, compelling governments, leaders and citizens to act.

“Outside the conservation benefits, George and I wanted to build a company that inspires the next generation. We felt the best way to do this was bringing together the top global scientists and pop culture tastemakers. Colossal is really the intersection of Harvard and MTV from a brand standpoint. It is our team’s job to not only create cutting-edge science but also to make it understandable enough and the impact relatable that everyone can benefit from it,” said Lamm. “We cannot tackle the extinction crisis alone. Entrepreneurship is a team-sport, like the Avengers. You want Hulk in your army, but you also need Thor.”

Ironically, Chris Hemsworth and his brothers, Luke and Liam, are among Colossal’s celebrity activist investors. The logic of pulling together both sides of the science and pop culture spectrum explains why Lamm has such a broad spectrum of investors and advisors. Bob Weis, former President of Walt Disney Imagineering, sits on the same advisory board as global deep-sea explorer Victor Vescovo. Succession star and fellow Colossal investor Nicholas Braun alongside five time world champion chess player, Magnus Carlsen, can see the moves ahead of where the company is going and provide valuable insights to support Colossal.

“Colossal is an extremely complex company across all disciplines. Ben and the team are on a clear path to accomplishing feats the world has never seen. I’m excited to be an investor and on this journey and do what I can to support him and his vision.” said Carlsen.

Earlier this year, Colossal announced that Oscar award-winning director of My Octopus Teacher, James Reed, began filming a documentary about the company’s work to de-extinct species last fall. Executively produced by Michael Doughtery (director of Godzilla: King of the Monsters), the docuseries has been capturing company milestones along the way. Lamm hints that there are bigger projects in the works with name-brand celebrities on ideas that stretch across film and television.

“De-extinction is complicated and nuanced,” said Lamm before stating, “We have partnered and listened to the best storytelling industry in the world to do that. And, we are thrilled to have the support of so many icons from the entertainment industry to ensure that the work we are doing is as clear and transparent as possible to the world.”