Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has achieved a world first by hatching 26 healthy live chicks from a fully artificial egg system with no natural shell or hen involved. The company announced the milestone Tuesday, May 19, 2026, calling it a critical step toward scalable avian embryo development outside biological eggs.
Scientists transferred early-stage chicken embryos into 3D-printed lattice structures lined with a silicone membrane that mimics the gas exchange and protective functions of a real eggshell. The transparent system allowed real-time monitoring during the roughly 21-day incubation period. All 26 chicks hatched successfully and are now thriving at Colossal’s avian facility in Texas with no reported health issues.
The breakthrough directly addresses a major hurdle in Colossal’s de-extinction efforts. The company is working to revive the South Island giant moa — a flightless bird that stood up to 12 feet tall, weighed around 250 kilograms, and went extinct in New Zealand about 600 years ago. Moa eggs were roughly 80 times the volume of a chicken egg, making traditional surrogate birds impossible. The artificial egg platform is designed to be fully scalable for such massive embryos.
🇺🇸 A Texas biotech company just hatched 26 live chicks from 3D-printed artificial eggs with no shells and no hens.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 20, 2026
First time in history a complete bird embryo developed in a fully artificial system.
And that's just the warm-up.
Colossal Biosciences is using this same tech to… pic.twitter.com/VIHsYmerwH
Colossal says the technology could also aid conservation of endangered bird species by providing controlled incubation environments. The chicks from this project will live out their natural lives at the company’s facility.
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