Biotech Firm Develops Artificial Egg for Giant Moa Revival

Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday that it has hatched healthy chicken chicks using a 3D-printed artificial egg system. The device is a shell-less incubator that supports embryo development from early stages through hatching. The South Island giant moa, a flightless bird that stood up to 12 feet tall, last lived in New Zealand forests about 600 years ago.

Its eggs were roughly eight times the volume of an emu egg, making natural surrogates impossible.

The system uses a silicone-based membrane that allows oxygen exchange similar to a natural eggshell. It is largely transparent, enabling researchers to observe embryo growth, blood vessels, and visible traits in real time. Trevor Snyder, a bioengineer at the company, demonstrated the device with chicken embryos.

"You can see the little chicken embryos moving around in there," he said. "You can see it has eyes. It has a heartbeat. It has a beak. It has feathers. " More than two dozen chickens have been born from the artificial eggs so far. The company plans to scale the technology for much larger embryos.

Colossal intends to edit cells from the Nicobar pigeon to create dodo-like embryos and from the emu to create moa-like embryos. The modified embryos would develop inside the artificial eggs. The project receives funding from Sir Peter Jackson, the film director, who has contributed $15 million and provided ancient moa DNA from his personal bone collection.

" Some scientists question the broader effort. " Ben Lamm, Colossal's chief executive, said the artificial egg is "a major milestone for Colossal and a foundational technology for our de-extinction toolkit.