Ben Lamm. Photography by John Davidson.

The CIA is now investing in Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based company working on de-extinction of the woolly mammoth.

Funding is coming via In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA, The Intercept reports. In-Q-Tel was founded in 1999, as the CIA and government agencies realized they were missing out on the technologies and innovations being created by firms in the private sector.

“It’s about listening to our customers and their requirements and imagining a different solution,” In-Q-Tel CEO Chris Darby says in a video. “And then it’s about tapping the innovation of the startup community to deliver on that vision.”

Colossal Biosciences was co-founded by Preston Hollow resident Ben Lamm and scientist George Church.

In-Q-Tel highlights in a blog post their interest in Colossal.

“Strategically, it’s less about the mammoths and more about the capability,” In-Q-Tel writes. “The next wave of progress in [synthetic biology] will lead to advances in our ability to shape both form and function in organisms at the macroscopic level.”