Scientists bring the "terrible wolf
back to life after its extinction 12,500 years ago
A female wolf that became extinct about 12,500 years ago has returned to life
as the first successfully revived animal in the world, according to
Colossal Biosciences, a biotechnology company based in Dallas.
Scientists have produced three dire wolf pups using gene editing, ancient DNA
and cloning techniques, with the aim of modifying the genes of the gray wolf
the closest relative of prehistoric wolves, the company announced Monday.
The result showed a hybrid species similar in appearance to its extinct ancestor.
The dire wolf :
Aenocyon deros, from which the fearsome dog featured in HBO's "Game of
Thrones" was inspired, was a top predator that roamed North America in the past.
"Dire wolves were larger than gray wolves, had a slightly wider head, had light
dense fur, and stronger jaws," the company reported.
Since 2021 :
Colossal Biosciences has been working to revive mammoths, dodos
and thylacines :
but has not previously revealed its work on dire wolves.
"This major shift is the first of many examples that will show that our technology
for bringing back extinct animals is working," Ben Lam, co-founder and CEO of
Colossal Biosciences, said in a press release, adding that "our team took DNA from
a 13,000-year-old, 72-year-old skull, and produced healthy dire wolf pups.".
The three dire wolves live on :
a 2,000-acre (8.1 square kilometer)
site in an undisclosed location, surrounded by a 3-meter-high zoo fence
where they are monitored by security personnel, drones, and cameras.
Colossal Biosciences indicated that the facility is accredited by the American
Humane Association and registered with the US Department of Agriculture.
Dire wolf fossils and ancient DNA :
Using ancient DNA extracted from two dire wolf fossils, scientists at Colossal
Biosciences said they were able to assemble two high-quality Aenocyon Dirus
genomes, or two complete sets of genetic information.
The team compared them with the genomes of living canids such as wolves
wild dogs, and foxes, to identify genetic variants that are specific to dire wolf traits
such as white and thick fur.
The company then used :
the information generated from the genetic analysis to
modify gray wolf cells, making 20 modifications in 14 genes, before cloning the
most promising cell lines and transferring them to the eggs of surrogate mothers
for the purpose of pregnancy, according to the press release.
Three pregnancies led to the birth of the first species that was brought back to life.
"Colossal Biosciences" confirmed to CNN that they used domestic dogs, specifically
large mixed-breed hunting dogs, as surrogate mothers.
The male dire wolf pup was born on October 1, 2024
while the female pup was born on January 30, 2025.
Gene editing to :
bring extinct species back to life :
To achieve its goal, the company essentially created a hybrid genome using CRISPR
technology to cut out some genetic variants in the gray wolf and replace them with
traits associated with the dire wolf, according to Loew Dallen, a professor of
evolutionary genomics at the Center for Paleogenomics at Stockholm University
and a consultant to Colossal Biosciences.
Dallin explained:
"It's no secret if we say that this genome is 99.9% of
the grey wolf genome.
There's going to be debate in the scientific community about how many genes need to be changed to turn a gray wolf into a dire wolf, but that's actually a philosophical question," he said.
He added that :
he carries dire wolf genes, and these genes make him look more like dire wolves
than anything else we have seen in the last 13,000 years. And that's pretty cool'.
As for Dallin :
who participated to some extent in analyzing the dire wolf's genomes
but did not personally meet the puppies, nor did he participate in
the process of gene editing or cloning, he considered that the work done
by scientists was considered a "huge leap"
compared to anything accomplished in this field in the past.
Colossal Biosciences has raised at least $435 million since it was founded by Lam
and Harvard geneticist George Church in September 2021.
They announced for the first time their plans to revive the mammoth.
The endeavor took longer than Lam initially expected, with the company announcing it was on track to produce a woolly mammoth in 2028.
Conservation of endangered species :
Colossal Biosciences hopes that the same technologies that produced
the dire wolf could directly help save endangered animals as well.
The company said Monday that :
it has produced two batches of cloned red wolves, the most endangered wolf
species, using a new, less invasive approach to cloning developed
during research on the dire wolf.
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