Moonshots with Peter Diamandis How AI Is Bringing Extinct Animals Back (And What Comes Next) | Ben Lamm (Colossal) | EP #245
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Apr 7, 2026 
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De Extinction Is The Front End Of A Biotech Platform
- Colossal uses de-extinction as a forcing function to solve biology’s hardest problems, then reuses that stack to build other living products.
- Ben Lamm says the same pipeline spanning AI, genomics, cloning, and artificial wombs can yield both mammoths and plastic-eating microbes.
Why Breaking Targets Plastic Bonds Instead Of Fragments
- Colossal’s plastic spinout aims to break plastic’s chemical bonds rather than merely shred waste into smaller microplastics.
- Ben Lamm says a microbial consortium plus directed evolution expanded the plastic range and sped degradation per surface area.
George R R Martin Teared Up Seeing Dire Wolves
- Ben Lamm said Colossal made dire wolf puppies from a 73,000-year-old skull in just 18 months.
- He showed them to George R.R. Martin on Zoom, and Martin immediately recognized what they were and teared up.