Extinct Dire Wolf species makes a comeback after 12,000 years, how?

The Dire Wolf species which became extinct approximately 12,500 years ago, is no longer extinct. Scientists from a Texas based Colossal Biosciences claimed that they have revived the species through genetic engineering. The revival of the species has taken the scientific world by storm as netizens express their excitement and concern over the new technology developed.  

From this process, the scientists created two pups of the Dire Wolf named Romulus and Remus, who are now six-month-old, healthy and measure around four feet and weigh 36 kg. While shedding light on the procedure the Biosciences company revealed that the animal was created using ancient DNA, which they cloned, and performed gene editing to revive it. As per reports, the scientist used the DNA from the closest relative of the animal, the gray wolf.   

The Dire Wolf were once one of the most successful predators who ruled North America. They are large in size as compared to the typical gray wolves, and they tend to have heavier, thick white fur with much stronger jaws as compared to their closest relatives.  

The co-founder of Colossal, George Church emphasized that the idea of regenerating the species is a “Game Changer”.  

“The idea that we could now just take a vial of blood, isolate EPC, culture them, and clone from them, and they have a pretty high cloning efficiency, we think it’s a game changer,” George Church highlighted.  

The pups were born on 1st October 2024; however, they got popularized after featuring in Game of Thrones. The Pups following their birth were kept with a surrogate who fed them, while the company took care of them. The pups are now living a healthy life as young dire wolves.  

The company has highlighted that the pups have a slightly different behavior than from the existing wolf species, are not energetic and don’t even show any excitement in the presence of humans. One of the handlers who raised the pups since birth stated that even he doesn't go closer to puppies if they flinch. It was also interpreted that the puppies tend to live typically alone.  

The company has also shed light on that, they plan to revive many other species as well including mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger.  

This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works. "Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” the company stated.