On Jun. 25, 2026, Colossal Biosciences US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a partnership that aims to collect and freeze cell and tissue samples from every species on the US Endangered Species List. The collaboration positions Colossal Biosciences — the Dallas-based de-extinction company behind the dire wolf, born in 2024 — and the federal wildlife agency to build a genomic library that could support both species recovery and, if necessary, future de-extinction.

The effort responds to a documented loss. The US Endangered Species List, established under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, now comprises more than 2,100 struggling species. In the past half century, only 54 species have recovered enough to be delisted, including the bald eagle and the giant panda, while 67 others went extinct despite federal protection — 21 of them in 2023 alone.

The partnership commits Colossal Biosciences and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to collecting, sequencing, and cryopreserving genetic material from all 2,100-plus listed species. The goal is a complete genomic record that can be used either to gene-edit greater resilience into surviving populations or to de-extinct species whose numbers fall too far. The two organizations began discussing an effort of this scale five years ago.

The agency had been aware of a frozen biobank Colossal was already building at its Dallas headquarters, where tissue and cell lines from roughly 200 species are kept in a liquid nitrogen bath at -274°F. That existing collection was not specific to listed species, and the agency wanted such an inventory to take shape. According to chief animal officer Matt James, the agency initially proposed roughly 100 species before Colossal pushed to target the entire list.

Collecting genetic material from endangered animals is limited by the need for noninvasive handling. In the field, Colossal scientists are largely restricted to blood draws and skin biopsies, which constrains the cell types available. To gather a fuller range — including organ cells and gametes — the company relies on opportunities such as carcasses found in the wild or animals euthanized at cooperating zoos.

The genetic library will be shared rather than held privately. Colossal and US Fish and Wildlife intend to open-source the biobank’s samples and sequences to labs and universities worldwide engaged in similar conservation and de-extinction work. As Ben Lamm put it, everyone should share in what the project gathers.

Both organizations emphasize keeping species alive over bringing them back. The whole-genome sequencing performed before freezing is intended to identify genes associated with traits such as disease mitigation and drought tolerance, which could then be used to engineer greater resilience into living populations facing climatic extremes and new pathogens. This effort runs parallel to Colossal’s separate February 2026 biobank partnership in Dubai, which targets cryopreservation of more than 10,000 species.