Colossal Biosciences' mammoth has slipped from 2028 to the early 2030s. Their CEO's phrasing: "not 2036, but not 2030 either." The reason is the interesting part. The original plan targeted around 65 genes to convert an Asian elephant genome into something mammoth-like. As they analysed more ancient DNA from better-preserved Siberian specimens, that number went up to about 85 & Lamm says it could move again. 🧬 Traits like dense fur & cold adaptation turned out to depend on more genetic machinery than the initial analysis suggested. That's a normal result in genomics. Complex traits are rarely one gene doing one job & the more closely you look, the more contributors you find. The rest of the timeline is biology you can't compress. Elephant gestation runs about 22 months. Asian elephants are endangered, so using them as surrogates carries regulatory hurdles Colossal hasn't cleared. Even with a viable embryo tomorrow, the calf is nearly two years out. Worth keeping the honest framing that outside scientists keep raising: this produces a gene-edited Asian elephant with mammoth traits, not a mammoth. 🦣 As one put it, you might alter the hair pattern & cold tolerance, but you're changing an elephant. The spin-off technologies may end up mattering more than the animal — artificial womb research, multiplex editing, ancient DNA assembly. Colossal has spun out healthcare companies off the back of it. A slipping deadline isn't the scandal here. Discovering the problem is harder than you thought is what the work actually looks like.