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Thursday, Apr 17, 2025
Outside the box.
Colossal Biosciences Claims to Revive Extinct Dire Wolf Species Amid Scientific Skepticism
The US biotechnology company announces the birth of three genetically modified pups, drawing mixed reactions from experts in the field.
Colossal Biosciences, a US biotechnology company, has announced the birth of three dire wolf pups, a species that has been extinct for over 10,000 years.
The company claims to have accomplished this feat by modifying the genome of a modern grey wolf using DNA extracted from dire wolf fossils.
The announcement includes footage of what Colossal describes as adolescent cubs named Romulus and Remus, along with a female puppy named Khaleesi.
The fossils used for DNA extraction reportedly include a 13,000-year-old dire wolf tooth and a 72,000-year-old inner ear bone.
Despite this claim, reporters have noted that they could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the specifics about its location and timing.
Experts, however, have expressed skepticism regarding these claims.
Corey Bradshaw, a professor of global ecology at Flinders University in Australia, argues that modifying the complete genomes of animals that have been extinct for such long periods is practically impossible, largely due to DNA degradation over time.
He stated, "Yes, they have slightly genetically modified wolves, maybe.
And that's probably the best that you're going to get.
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 grey wolf?
Yes."
Bradshaw further criticized the lack of supporting evidence accompanying Colossal's claims, mentioning that such omissions raise significant concerns about the credibility of their assertions.
In contrast, Beth Shapiro, the chief scientific officer at Colossal Biosciences, has articulated that species classification is subjective and can be interpreted differently depending on the concepts used.
She referred to the phylogenetic species concept, which focuses on evolutionary relationships, and contrasted it with the morphological species concept, which emphasizes physical characteristics.
Emily Roycroft from Monash University’s Evolutionary and Conservation Genomics Research Group elaborated that species identity encompasses much more than external appearance.
She highlighted that the genetic divergence between extinct dire wolves and current grey wolves has accumulated over millions of years, making simple genetic modifications insufficient to recreate an extinct species.
"Editing a few genes of the grey wolf does not make a dire wolf," she stated.
Colossal Biosciences was founded in 2021 and claims to be the first biotechnology company leveraging CRISPR gene editing technology in the pursuit of species de-extinction.
The company has also reported successful cloning of critically endangered red wolves and the creation of genetically engineered mice that exhibit traits associated with the long-extinct woolly mammoth.
The company claims to have accomplished this feat by modifying the genome of a modern grey wolf using DNA extracted from dire wolf fossils.
The announcement includes footage of what Colossal describes as adolescent cubs named Romulus and Remus, along with a female puppy named Khaleesi.
The fossils used for DNA extraction reportedly include a 13,000-year-old dire wolf tooth and a 72,000-year-old inner ear bone.
Despite this claim, reporters have noted that they could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the specifics about its location and timing.
Experts, however, have expressed skepticism regarding these claims.
Corey Bradshaw, a professor of global ecology at Flinders University in Australia, argues that modifying the complete genomes of animals that have been extinct for such long periods is practically impossible, largely due to DNA degradation over time.
He stated, "Yes, they have slightly genetically modified wolves, maybe.
And that's probably the best that you're going to get.
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 grey wolf?
Yes."
Bradshaw further criticized the lack of supporting evidence accompanying Colossal's claims, mentioning that such omissions raise significant concerns about the credibility of their assertions.
In contrast, Beth Shapiro, the chief scientific officer at Colossal Biosciences, has articulated that species classification is subjective and can be interpreted differently depending on the concepts used.
She referred to the phylogenetic species concept, which focuses on evolutionary relationships, and contrasted it with the morphological species concept, which emphasizes physical characteristics.
Emily Roycroft from Monash University’s Evolutionary and Conservation Genomics Research Group elaborated that species identity encompasses much more than external appearance.
She highlighted that the genetic divergence between extinct dire wolves and current grey wolves has accumulated over millions of years, making simple genetic modifications insufficient to recreate an extinct species.
"Editing a few genes of the grey wolf does not make a dire wolf," she stated.
Colossal Biosciences was founded in 2021 and claims to be the first biotechnology company leveraging CRISPR gene editing technology in the pursuit of species de-extinction.
The company has also reported successful cloning of critically endangered red wolves and the creation of genetically engineered mice that exhibit traits associated with the long-extinct woolly mammoth.
