SouthernWorldwide.com – A Dallas-based company, Colossal Biosciences, has announced a groundbreaking achievement, claiming to have successfully brought back the extinct dire wolf, an animal made famous by the HBO series “Game of Thrones.” This ambitious project utilized advanced genome-editing and cloning technologies.
The company states this marks the world’s first successful “de-extincted animal.” However, some experts are skeptical, suggesting the company has merely genetically modified existing wolves rather than truly resurrecting an extinct species.
Dire wolves once roamed the North American midcontinent during the Ice Age. The oldest confirmed fossil of a dire wolf dates back 250,000 years, discovered in South Dakota. In “Game of Thrones,” these creatures are depicted as larger, more intelligent, and fiercely loyal companions to the Stark family.
Colossal’s dire wolves consist of three individuals: two adolescent males named Romulus and Remus, and a female puppy named Khaleesi.
The scientific process involved taking blood cells from a living gray wolf. Using CRISPR technology, which stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” these cells were genetically modified at 20 different sites. According to Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief scientist, these modifications aimed to imbue the pups with traits characteristic of dire wolves, such as larger bodies and thicker, lighter-colored fur, which would have aided survival in Ice Age climates.
Fifteen of these 20 genome edits were designed to match genes found in actual dire wolf DNA. The ancient DNA was sourced from two dire wolf fossils: a tooth approximately 13,000 years old from Ohio, and an inner ear bone about 72,000 years old from Idaho.
This genetic material was then transferred into egg cells from domestic dogs. Following this, the resulting embryos were implanted into surrogate mother dogs. After a gestation period of 62 days, the genetically engineered pups were born.
Ben Lamm, CEO of Colossal Biosciences, hailed the achievement as a significant milestone. He emphasized that this success demonstrates the efficacy of the company’s comprehensive de-extinction technology. Lamm quoted Arthur C. Clarke, stating, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” He believes their work is unveiling this “magic” and its potential for broader conservation efforts.
Colossal Biosciences has previously announced similar projects aiming to recreate extinct animals like woolly mammoths and dodos by genetically altering cells from living species.
In addition to the dire wolf announcement, the company revealed the birth of two litters of cloned red wolves. The red wolf is one of the most critically endangered wolf species globally. This breeding was achieved using a novel, non-invasive blood cloning technique.
The successful birth of these red wolves, Colossal asserts, serves as proof of concept for their ability to conserve endangered species through de-extinction technology.
Lamm mentioned that his team met with officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior in late March to discuss the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum expressed enthusiasm for the work, calling it a “thrilling new era of scientific wonder.” However, external scientists have pointed out the limitations of such endeavors in fully restoring past species.
Corey Bradshaw, a professor of global ecology at Flinders University in Australia, expressed reservations about the claims of bringing the dire wolf back from extinction. He stated that while the company may have made slight genetic modifications to wolves, likely using retrieved dire wolf material, this does not equate to resurrecting a dire wolf.
“So yes, they have slightly genetically modified wolves, maybe, and that’s probably the best that you’re going to get,” Bradshaw commented. “And those slight modifications seem to have been derived from retrieved dire wolf material. Does that make it a dire wolf? No. Does it make a slightly modified gray wolf? Yes. And that’s probably about it.”
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Colossal Biosciences has reported that the wolves are currently thriving in a secure, 2,000-acre ecological preserve in Texas. This facility is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the USDA. The company’s long-term vision involves reintroducing these species into secure and expansive ecological preserves, possibly on indigenous lands.
