Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm Defends De-Extinction at CNBC Forum

Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm addressed ongoing comparisons to the film Jurassic Park at the CNBC AI Forum, defending the company’s de-extinction efforts as a serious synthetic biology venture aimed at conservation and human healthcare, CNBC reported. The Dallas, Texas conference held on October 1, 2026, brought renewed attention to the firm’s $10.2 billion valuation following a $200 million Series C funding round led by TWG Global in July.

Critics Dispute Dire Wolf De-Extinction Claims

Skeptics challenge whether the company truly brought back an extinct species. Critics argue that the resulting animals are merely gray wolves with superficial morphological changes rather than genuine dire wolves, which vanished more than 12,500 years ago.

Lamm dismissed these criticisms during his CNBC appearance, calling the skepticism a semantic argument that misses the forest for the trees. Gray wolves are just genetically modified dire wolves, Lamm said, according to CNBC. They were just done by nature or God or however you want to classify it.

Woolly Mammoth Targets and Conservation Goals

Colossal is applying a similar genetic modification technique to Asian elephants in an effort to produce a woolly mammoth. Lamm stated that the company aims for a woolly mammoth birth in the 2030s. We call it a woolly mammoth, Lamm told Time in August, according to CNBC coverage. Because if it looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, it serves ecological functions of a duck, it’s a duck, in our perspective.

The firm argues that these engineered species will fulfill crucial environmental roles.

Synthetic Biology Expansion and Human Healthcare

The technology behind these animal projects supports a broader programmable life platform with applications in human medicine. Lamm noted that DNA synthesis advancements could influence targeted drug delivery, gene therapies, disease eradication, and faster-growing crops.

We are in a biodiversity crisis, so we need these tools because we’re going to lose about half of biodiversity in the next 25 years. So, we do need cryopreservation, we need biobanks, we need genetic rescue and these types of tools.

Ben Lamm

Since its founding, Colossal has raised more than $435 million across multiple funding rounds. Lamm noted that approximately 30% of the company’s investors are inspired to participate through their children, aligning the firm’s commercial mission with public science education and conservation advocacy.