Josie Zayner has spent years pushing the boundaries of gene editing. Now, the former NASA scientist and biohacker says one of her most ambitious ideas — creating a unicorn-like horn — could be achievable within the next five to 10 years.
Zayner, 45, leads The Embryo Corporation, a biotechnology company using genomics, artificial intelligence and CRISPR gene editing to develop genetically modified animals.
Its current work is far more practical than unicorns. The company is focused on horses, cattle and cats, including efforts to improve athletic performance, meat quality and allergen levels.
But Zayner says the long-term goal is to explore just how far modern biotechnology can go.
“There hasn’t been a new kingdom of life in a billion years,” she said. “We’re sitting on this technology that can change life as we know it.”
Before launching her current company, Zayner earned a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Chicago and later worked at NASA in genetic engineering.
She eventually left to start a company called The ODIN, which sold do-it-yourself gene-editing kits.
Zayner also became known for experimenting on herself. In 2017, she livestreamed an attempt to use CRISPR on her own body, describing the project as a form of scientific performance art intended to provoke discussion about access to biotechnology.
Her unconventional approach made her one of the most recognizable figures in the biohacking movement.
Josie Zayner.
Today, her Austin-based team is applying that experimental mindset to animal genetics.
According to company materials, The Embryo Corporation works with horses, cattle and cats while operating an embryo laboratory and livestock ranch.
The company has also assembled a database containing more than 1,300 horse genomes, which it combines with AI models in an effort to predict traits linked to elite performance.
Several pregnancies involving genetically selected horse embryos are already underway.
One of Zayner’s most ambitious horse projects involves a muscle-related gene known as myosin 2B.
She says similar genes are found in many fast-running mammals but were lost in horses during evolution.
“What happens if we gave it back?” she asked. “Would it be a lot faster?”
The company is also investigating genes associated with meat marbling and feed efficiency in cattle, while separate experiments aim to create cats that produce fewer allergens.
Researchers working with embryos in the laboratory.
Much of the process begins with in vitro fertilization.
While an embryo is still at the single-cell stage, researchers introduce CRISPR gene-editing tools, either through direct injection or electrical methods designed to help the genetic material enter the cell.
The aim is for the change to be present throughout the animal as the embryo develops.
Zayner says the team tests new ideas in mice before moving to larger animals and works within federal regulatory guidelines.
Animal welfare remains one of the major questions surrounding this kind of research, particularly when edits could affect health, development or quality of life.
Zayner argues that her team is trying to minimize those risks by carefully testing edits before attempting pregnancies.
Then there is the unicorn.
Zayner estimates that creating a functional horn on a horse-like animal could potentially be possible in five to 10 years if enough funding and research support were available.
She says researchers would likely begin by testing the biological mechanisms in mice before attempting anything in larger animals.
Creating a dragon-like creature would be considerably more difficult.
Flight, in particular, presents enormous biological challenges. Since bats are the only mammals capable of true powered flight, Zayner says they would be an obvious starting point for studying how such traits might be engineered.
For now, however, the company’s attention remains focused on animals that already exist.
Whether the future actually includes unicorns is uncertain, but Zayner sees the idea as a way of asking a much bigger question: how far should humans be willing to reshape biology now that the tools to do so are becoming increasingly powerful?