A startup just hatched baby chicks from 3D-printed eggs to bring back a 12-foot extinct bird

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Colossal Biosciences, a company in Dallas working to revive extinct species, has successfully hatched 26 chicks using eggs created with 3D printing. This is a key step in their ambitious project to bring back the giant moa bird, which once lived on New Zealand’s South Island.

The flightless bird that went extinct around 600 years ago stood at nearly 12 feet tall.

As a science enthusiast, I was blown away learning about these artificial eggs! Scientists are 3D-printing the outer shell and using this super-thin silicone layer inside. It basically lets the embryo develop just like in a normal egg, but it’s all visible – they can actually watch it grow! It’s an amazing way to study development.

Why chickens and not moa?

Moa eggs were enormous – about 80 times bigger than a chicken egg and three times larger than an ostrich egg, which is currently the biggest egg laid by any living bird. Because no bird today can lay an egg that big, the team at Colossal had to create one artificially.

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CEO Ben Lamm explained that they didn’t want to wait until their project was fully developed before tackling the technical difficulties of creating and launching it. They preferred to begin working on those challenges immediately.

According to Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro, this technology solves a key problem for species that can’t use surrogates. It provides a reliable and expandable way to help them develop, without needing a host animal.

Scientists are not all convinced

CBS News reports that University at Buffalo evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch clarified the device isn’t a complete artificial egg, but rather an artificial eggshell, according to his assessment.

Lynch cautioned that the final outcome would be a genetically altered bird, but not a true moa.

Colossal, the company that successfully revived three dire wolf pups in April 2025, believes its technology could also help save endangered bird species that have difficulty hatching eggs in captivity.

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2026-05-24 13:48