Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret born in December 2020, was cloned using the genetic remains of a ferret named Willa who died in 1988. Here she is three weeks old.
Viagen used cells from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Biodiversity Bank’s Frozen Zoo to birth a Przewalski’s Horse clone, as a step to preserve and grow the endangered species.
EMBARGOED FOR USE UNTIL TUESDAY, NOV. 4 AT 9 A.M. ET: Viagen has used cells from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Biodiversity Bank’s Frozen Zoo to birth a Przewalski’s horse clone, as a step to preserve and grow the endangered species.

This business acquisition appears to be a genetic match: Colossal Biosciences, the company that brought back the dire wolves, has acquired Viagen Pets and Equine, which has cloned dogs for Paris Hilton and Barbra Streisand.

Colossal gained attention in 2021 with its announced plans to bring back the woolly mammoth and subsequent projects such as the “de-extinction” of the dodo and Tasmanian tiger. But the Dallas-headquartered company also aims to use its genetics toolkit in conservation efforts to preserve endangered species such as the red wolf.

Viagen’s cloning prowess could help. Founded in 2002, the Austin, Texas-based Viagen has successfully cloned 15 species, including endangered ones such as the black-footed ferret and Przewalski’s horse.

The company also has a huge bank of genetic material from more than 40 unique species, including 22 threatened or endangered species such as the white rhino, black rhino and Perdido Key beach mouse.

Viagen’s expertise in cryopreservation – reviving frozen genetic material for cloning – is vital to protecting and expanding endangered species, said Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal officer, in a news release announcing the acquisition. “Viagen’s proprietary technology will fuel Colossal’s de-extinction efforts and allow us to restore more endangered species populations as well as preserve their genetic diversity in Colossal’s Bio Vaults,” he said.

The acquisition is the first for Colossal, which has also launched two additional companies: Breaking, which researches how to break down plastics, and Form Bio, a gene therapy development company.

“No other company comes close to what Viagen has achieved,” said Colossal CEO and co-founder Ben Lamm. “Their unmatched expertise and cloning technology stack have become the world’s standard and their application of these critical and proprietary technologies to endangered species conservation makes them an invaluable partner in advancing our global de-extinction and species preservation mission.”

In 2020, Viagen achieved the first successful cloning of a U.S. endangered species with the birth of the black-footed ferret, Elizabeth Ann, in a collaborative project with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation group Revive and Restore.

Also that year, the groups worked together to clone the first of two Przewalski’s horses for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park using DNA cryopreserved 42 years ago. The endangered horses, originally found in Mongolia, are considered the last species of “truly wild horses” and are “distant cousins” of modern-day domestic horses, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Remember Dolly the sheep, a clone born in 1996? Viagen has gained “exclusive licensing and access to” the cloning technologies developed by the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh, Scotland, which created Dolly, according to Colossal’s new release.

“Joining forces with Colossal – the only de-extinction company and leader in biotechnology – gives Viagen the scale, resources, and shared vision to expand what we can do,” said Viagen President Blake Russell in a statement. He will continue to lead the company. “Together, we can accelerate breakthroughs in genetic preservation, animal health, and endangered species recovery through biobanking and cloning at a scale that simply wasn’t possible on our own.”

What do Paris Hilton and Tom Brady have in common? Cloned dogs

The business deal also got the approval of several celebrity investors, including Paris Hilton, who had Viagen create a pair of clone pups from her dog Diamond Baby, which went missing in 2022. “Colossal’s acquisition of Viagen is just another exciting step in their path to bringing back earth’s biodiversity in volume,” Hilton said in a statement.

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, who’s now a broadcaster for Fox and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, said Colossal and Viagen helped create a clone of the family’s elderly dog “before she passed,” he said in a statement.

“In a few short months, Colossal gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog,” said Brady, who is an investor in Colossal. “I am excited how Colossal and Viagen’s tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species.”

Filmmaker Peter Jackson, who directed and produced movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films and “The Beatles: Get Back,” who is also an investor in Colossal, said in a statement, “I am excited about how the combined approaches to animal welfare, biobanking, and cloning can be used not only with beloved pets but for more challenging endangered species. These two companies together give humanity a real shot at saving the planet’s biodiversity.”

Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biotech company Colossal, which brought dire wolves back to life, acquires Viagen

Reporting by Mike Snider, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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