Colossal BioVault in Dubai is being built as a backup plan for life on Earth

Colossal Biosciences and the UAE unveiled the Colossal BioVault and World Preservation Lab at Dubai’s Museum of the Future, a public-facing facility intended to preserve endangered species and genetic material. The UAE led an initial $60 million investment to support the project, which aims to store millions of samples and create a distributed global network.

For the first time, a public-facing facility intended as a global biological archive was unveiled in Dubai. At the World Governments Summit, Colossal Biosciences and the United Arab Emirates announced plans to establish the Colossal BioVault and World Preservation Lab inside Dubai’s Museum of the Future. The project is framed as a large-scale effort to preserve endangered species and their genetic material. The facility is designed to serve both as an active research laboratory and as an educational space where visitors can observe conservation work. Key details: - The Colossal BioVault will use cryogenic storage, robotics, and AI-powered monitoring systems to preserve living cell lines, tissue samples, and genetic data from endangered species. - The facility is expected to store millions of samples representing more than 10,000 species, with initial efforts focused on the 100 most imperiled species globally and within the UAE. - Data and genomic resources generated through the BioVault are planned to be non-proprietary and made available to scientists worldwide. - The UAE led an initial $60 million investment in Colossal Biosciences as part of a nine-figure agreement; the company has raised $615 million in total capital to date. - The initiative is presented as the first step in a planned distributed network of global BioVaults, and Colossal is inviting other nations to contribute biological samples. - During its first year the project will prioritize fieldwork and DNA research across species to build scientific groundwork for future conservation efforts. Summary: The Colossal BioVault is intended to act as a long-term safeguard for biodiversity by creating a visible, distributed archive of biological samples and genomic data while also serving as an educational research space. The partnership combines government support, private funding, and a public exhibit model to make conservation science more transparent. The next stated step is a first-year focus on fieldwork and DNA research to expand the facility’s sample collection and genomic references.