Scientists claim they have brought the dire wolf species back from extinction after 13,000 years, thanks to genetic engineering.
On Monday, the Texas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences announced that three dire wolf pups were born last fall. The species became popular in modern culture thanks to their inclusion in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones,” which inspired the company to name the young wolves Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, which references characters in the series.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said, per the New York Post. “It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”
The team used ” somatic cell nuclear transfer” to clone high-quality cell lines, which were transferred into donor egg cells and then implanted into a surrogate, the Post reported.
Two pups were born in October 2024, while a third was born in January 2025.
Colossal made headlines last month for engineering a “woolly mouse,” which they made by injecting mammoth DNA into mice to make them grow thick coats. Per The Daily Mail, the company has a stated goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2028.
Paleontologist Julie Meachen told The New York Times that dire wolves lived in North America during the Ice Age and were contemporaries of mastodons and saber tooth tigers. Their closest living relatives are gray wolves, which are about 25% smaller. Dire wolves also have more muscular jaws and shoulders.
The company’s announcement has inspired many reactions online, ranging from excitement to skepticism. The official “Jurassic World” account posted its response to X, saying, “We see no possible way this could go wrong.”
We see no possible way this could go wrong https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk
— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) April 7, 2025
Many commenters said it was a stretch to call these genetically modified wolf cubs actual dire wolves.
“While these genetically engineered wolves exhibit physical and behavioral traits reminiscent of dire wolves, they are not true dire wolves,” one person wrote. “The genetic modifications introduced specific dire wolf characteristics into the gray wolf genome, resulting in animals that are essentially gray wolves with selected phenotypic traits of dire wolves, rather than exact replicas of the extinct species.”
“This isn’t life finding a way, this is human interference,” another person observed. “Someone forgot the lesson of just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Or in other terms did they step back and ask the question ‘why are we doing this?’”
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Scientists claim they have brought the dire wolf species back from extinction after 13,000 years, thanks to genetic engineering.
On Monday, the Texas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences announced that three dire wolf pups were born last fall. The species became popular in modern culture thanks to their inclusion in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones,” which inspired the company to name the young wolves Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, which references characters in the series.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said, per the New York Post. “It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”
The team used ” somatic cell nuclear transfer” to clone high-quality cell lines, which were transferred into donor egg cells and then implanted into a surrogate, the Post reported.
Two pups were born in October 2024, while a third was born in January 2025.
Colossal made headlines last month for engineering a “woolly mouse,” which they made by injecting mammoth DNA into mice to make them grow thick coats. Per The Daily Mail, the company has a stated goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction by 2028.
Paleontologist Julie Meachen told The New York Times that dire wolves lived in North America during the Ice Age and were contemporaries of mastodons and saber tooth tigers. Their closest living relatives are gray wolves, which are about 25% smaller. Dire wolves also have more muscular jaws and shoulders.
The company’s announcement has inspired many reactions online, ranging from excitement to skepticism. The official “Jurassic World” account posted its response to X, saying, “We see no possible way this could go wrong.”
We see no possible way this could go wrong https://t.co/EQaOH4fJYk
— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) April 7, 2025
Many commenters said it was a stretch to call these genetically modified wolf cubs actual dire wolves.
“While these genetically engineered wolves exhibit physical and behavioral traits reminiscent of dire wolves, they are not true dire wolves,” one person wrote. “The genetic modifications introduced specific dire wolf characteristics into the gray wolf genome, resulting in animals that are essentially gray wolves with selected phenotypic traits of dire wolves, rather than exact replicas of the extinct species.”
“This isn’t life finding a way, this is human interference,” another person observed. “Someone forgot the lesson of just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Or in other terms did they step back and ask the question ‘why are we doing this?’”
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