Overview
- Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday that 26 chicks hatched after embryos were moved into a 3D-printed lattice lined with a silicone membrane.
- The open-top device lets oxygen pass at shell-like rates and allows real-time viewing, addressing older systems that needed extra oxygen that could harm embryos.
- The team transferred the contents of fertilized chicken eggs a few days after laying, used standard incubators, and supplemented calcium that a real shell would supply.
- Colossal pitches the shell as a path to incubate very large or hard-to-breed birds, with scale-up tests to emu or ostrich planned and moa genome work under way.
- Outside experts say this is an artificial eggshell, not a full synthetic egg, and they note the absence of peer-reviewed data and open questions about welfare and ecology.