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On February 3, 2026, Colossal Biosciences announced plans to build the world’s largest genetic biovault at the Museum of the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates — a facility designed to collect and store biological samples from more than 10,000 species facing the threat of extinction. The project is backed by a nine-figure UAE government investment and is expected to open in 2027.
The announcement comes as scientists warn that approximately 30% of known species could go extinct by 2050, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Colossal’s BioVault is built around a single premise: even if a species vanishes from the wild, preserved DNA could allow scientists to one day bring it back.
The biovault will initially focus on the world’s 100 most at-risk species, including the snow leopard, savanna elephant, great white shark, and northern white rhino. Colossal is partnering with 75 conservation organizations to collect samples from wild animals across the globe. Once gathered, samples will be analyzed in an on-site laboratory, catalogued in an open-source digital library accessible to researchers worldwide, and stored in freezers at temperatures as low as -320°F.
“We are losing species at an alarming rate,” said Ben Lamm, CEO and cofounder of Colossal Biosciences. “The world urgently needs a distributed network of global BioVaults — a true backup plan for life on Earth. Today’s biobanking efforts are underfunded, fragmented, and often inaccessible, lacking the collaboration and international support that this crisis demands.”
Several biorepositories already exist — including the Cornell University Biobank, the Barcelona CryoZoo Biobank, and the SANParks Veterinary Wildlife Services Biobank in South Africa. But as TIME reported, Colossal’s network will be the largest and most ambitious to date — and its genomic data will be fully open-source, available to any conservation or de-extinction researcher worldwide.
The scale of Colossal’s collection is also central to its mission. In the wild, endangered species can become genetically bottlenecked, with too few animals to sustain a viable breeding pool — leading to congenital malformations, recessive disease, or sterility. The same risk applies to biobanks that store too few samples per species.
“What sets the Colossal BioVault apart from other biobanking efforts is not just the scale but the breadth of species and populations we will bank,” said Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal officer. “For a species such as the Asian elephant, we would be looking at thousands of banked cells from hundreds of individuals.”
Visitors to the Museum of the Future will have a direct window into the science — the facility is designed as a functioning laboratory where the public can observe researchers receiving field samples, sequencing DNA, and cryopreserving cell lines in real time.
Colossal, founded in 2021, reached decacorn status by 2025 with a market valuation exceeding $10 billion. Its most recent Series C funding round raised $615 million, including a $60 million investment from the UAE. The Dubai biovault is envisioned as the first in a global network of seven to ten distributed Colossal BioVaults anchored near major biodiversity hubs worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Colossal BioVault in Dubai? The Colossal BioVault is the world’s largest planned genetic repository for endangered species, being built at Dubai’s Museum of the Future in a nine-figure partnership with the UAE government. It will store millions of biological samples — including cell lines, tissue, and genomic data — from more than 10,000 species, with a target opening date of 2027.
Which species will the Dubai biovault protect first? The facility will initially focus on the world’s 100 most imperiled species not currently held in other biobanks, including the snow leopard, savanna elephant, great white shark, and northern white rhino. Samples will be collected in partnership with 75 conservation organizations worldwide.
How is the Colossal BioVault different from other biobanks? Unlike traditional biorepositories, the Colossal BioVault will operate in full public view inside a museum, use AI-powered robotics for sample management, and make all genomic data open-source and freely available to researchers. It is also the first facility in a planned global network of distributed biobanks, with Colossal CEO Ben Lamm envisioning seven to ten sites anchored near major biodiversity hubs worldwide.
What is Colossal Biosciences known for? Colossal Biosciences is a Texas-based biotechnology company focused on de-extinction and conservation. Founded in 2021 by Ben Lamm and geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School, Colossal is known for engineering the return of the dire wolf after 10,000 years of extinction. The company has raised $615 million in total capital and reached a market valuation exceeding $10 billion by 2025.
