Core Insights - Cathie Wood's investment strategy focuses on transformative technologies, particularly in the field of gene editing, which she views as a significant market-changing opportunity [1][3]. Company and Industry Summary - ARK Invest has been actively purchasing shares of CRISPR Therapeutics, indicating a strong commitment to the long-term potential of gene editing technology [2][4]. - CRISPR Therapeutics specializes in gene editing, a technology that is compared to the early days of the internet in terms of its potential to revolutionize industries [3][8]. - The recent trading activity included the acquisition of over 76,800 shares of CRISPR in just three trading days, demonstrating a significant investment in the company [6][8]. - The total investment in CRISPR during this period amounted to over $4.4 million, reflecting a strategic doubling down on a long-term vision for the biotech sector [5][7]. - CRISPR Therapeutics is still in an early-commercial phase, which presents a unique investment profile as it is not strictly pre-revenue but still not fully established in terms of profitability [10].

Core Insights - Editas Medicine, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene editing technologies, specifically utilizing its proprietary CRISPR technology to create transformative medicines [1] - Editas competes with other companies in the gene editing sector, including Intellia Therapeutics, CRISPR Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, and Pacific Biosciences of California [1] Financial Performance - Editas Medicine's Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) is -154.03%, which is significantly lower than its Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) of 13.54%, indicating insufficient returns on invested capital [2] - The ROIC to WACC ratio for Editas is -11.38, highlighting a concerning disparity between returns and capital costs [2] - In comparison, Intellia Therapeutics has a ROIC of -42.76% and a WACC of 11.66%, resulting in a less severe ROIC to WACC ratio of -3.67, suggesting slightly better capital efficiency [3] - CRISPR Therapeutics has a ROIC of -23.46% and a WACC of 11.43%, with the best ROIC to WACC ratio among peers at -2.05, indicating relatively better capital management [3] - Beam Therapeutics and Pacific Biosciences report negative ROICs of -40.86% and -86.29%, respectively, with ROIC to WACC ratios of -3.07 and -10.68, reflecting challenges in generating returns above their capital costs [4] - Overall, all companies in the gene editing space, including Editas, face difficulties in achieving returns above their cost of capital [5]

De-extinction Project & Biodiversity - Biodiversity is projected to decrease by 27% in vertebrates by 2050 [1] - Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences claims to have brought back an extinct species of wolf, the direwolf [2] - Colossal aims to resurrect extinct species by generating organisms resembling and genetically similar to them, focusing on core genes [8] - Colossal plans to reintroduce woolly mammoths by 2028, along with projects involving the thylacine and dodo bird [15] Direwolf Project Details - Colossal used gene editing and cloning from ancient samples (13,000-year-old tooth and 72,000-year-old skull) to recreate direwolf pups [4] - Colossal identified 20 differences in 14 genes between grey wolf and direwolf genomes, accounting for distinguishing characteristics [5] - Direwolves existed from approximately 4 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, growing up to 178 cm and weighing 59-68 kg [9][10] - CRISPR technology was used to edit the genes, with five genes changed solely for the white coat characteristic [11][13] Species Definition & Project Validity - The definition of species involves interbreeding, while Colossal uses the morphological species concept (if they look like the animal, they are the animal) [6][7] - Greywolves are genetically more similar to jackals and African wild dogs than to direwolves [10] - Colossal currently has no plans for breeding the direwolves, which impacts the ability to determine if they can produce fertile offspring [14]