Overview

• Filmmaker Peter Jackson and partner Fran Walsh have committed $15 million to fund Colossal Biosciences’ collaboration with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre on the de-extinction initiative.
• The Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury will lead scientific oversight and cultural governance to ensure Māori stewardship.
• Researchers have begun extracting and sequencing ancient DNA from private collections and museum fossils to reconstruct the moa genome.
• Colossal anticipates living moa proxies could appear within five to ten years following genome assembly and advanced CRISPR editing.
• The project includes establishing genomic biobanks, funding whānau-led expeditions, and building local training programs and laboratories in South Island Māori communities.