Scientists Hatch 26 Chicks in Artificial Eggs for Moas

Scientists just cracked one of the biggest puzzles in bringing extinct species back to life, and it involves rethinking something as simple as an egg.

Colossal Biosciences announced it successfully hatched 26 healthy chickens using completely artificial eggs. The Texas-based company designed these eggs specifically to one day hatch a giant moa, New Zealand's largest flightless bird that went extinct around 500 years ago.

The breakthrough solves a chicken-and-egg problem that's stumped scientists for decades. No living bird lays an egg big enough to incubate a moa, which stood up to 12 feet tall.

The artificial eggs feature a silicone-based membrane and 3D-printed lattice shell that lets oxygen diffuse naturally inside. Previous attempts since the 1980s required pumping high levels of oxygen directly into artificial eggs, which damaged developing chicks' DNA and long-term health.

"We had to engineer the artificial egg really from the ground up again," said Andrew Pask, the company's chief biology officer and University of Melbourne professor. "We wanted to make it as close as possible to development inside the natural egg."

The transparent design offers another first. Scientists can now monitor chick development in real time, something impossible with natural eggs.

The project has backing from filmmaker Peter Jackson and partners with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum. Scientists are currently sequencing the moa genome from bone DNA, expecting it differs only slightly from its closest living relatives: emus and South American tinamous.

Once they edit a living relative's cells with moa-specific genes, the real engineering begins. A moa egg was at least eight times larger in volume than an emu egg, so scientists plan to start the embryo in an emu egg, then transfer it to a moa-sized artificial egg with extra yolk and egg white to sustain the much larger chick.

The Ripple Effect

The artificial egg technology extends far beyond bringing back extinct species. Pask hopes it becomes a lifeline for critically endangered birds struggling to breed in captivity, allowing conservationists to boost population numbers and release birds back into the wild.

The platform could also help engineer disease resistance or climate resilience into vulnerable species. In New Zealand, scientists could restore genetic diversity to birds with tiny populations by sequencing DNA from specimens that lived 50 to 150 years ago and reintroducing that variation.

The team is now monitoring the 26 hatched chickens to ensure they develop normal lifespans and reproductive capacity. If healthy, they'll scale up to emu-sized eggs next.

Pask estimates we could see a baby moa in less than 10 years.

The technology that helps an ancient giant walk again might just save the small, struggling species we still have time to protect.