Today’s announcement by Texas-based de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences about a successful hatching of chicks from an artificial egg would represent a major innovation, if the claims can be verified.

The company says its artificial egg supports the full development of bird embryos outside a biological eggshell, without the requirement for supplemental oxygen. The work is part of its plan to “de-extinct” birds, including the giant moa and dodo.

Colossal’s artificial egg could be groundbreaking science and deliver a useful tool for conservation. But its announcement and slick video include no data or peer-reviewed scientific publications, making it difficult to independently assess the claim.

Artificial egg technology, which involves transferring and growing a developing chick embryo outside a natural eggshell, has been around since the 1980s. Live birds have been hatched from these systems before and grown to adulthood.

The technology is currently used for research purposes such as studying how embryos develop, how tumours grow, and to create genetically modified chickens. It also has applications for drug and vaccine development.

But several stumbling blocks to the widespread use of artificial eggs persist. To improve hatching efficiency, pure oxygen needs to be directly supplied to the developing embryo. This is a double-edged sword because it can also affect chick........

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