In a groundbreaking scientific achievement, a U.S.-based biotech company claims to have brought the extinct dire wolf back to life—10,000 years after the species vanished from North America. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas firm behind the project, announced the birth of three genetically engineered “dire wolf” pups, marking what it calls the world’s first successful de-extinction of an animal.
The company, co-founded by entrepreneur Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church, revealed that the pups—two males named Romulus and Remus, born in October 2024, and a female named Khaleesi, born in January 2025—were created using DNA extracted from ancient fossils. By editing the genes of modern gray wolves, the closest living relatives of the prehistoric predator, scientists say they’ve produced animals that closely resemble the iconic Ice Age carnivores.
Colossal’s team sourced genetic material from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull, using CRISPR technology to splice dire wolf traits—such as white fur, a broader skull, and a heavier build—into gray wolf embryos. The edited embryos were then implanted into domestic dog surrogates, resulting in the birth of the hybrid pups.
However, the achievement has sparked debate among scientists. Some argue the animals are not true dire wolves but genetically modified gray wolves with edited traits. “Ancient DNA is too fragmented to clone directly,” said paleogeneticist Dr. Nic Rawlence. “What they’ve created is a hybrid.”
For now, the three pups remain under close watch at a secure, 2,000-acre facility in the northern U.S., their existence a tantalizing blend of scientific triumph and philosophical dilemma. Whether they mark the return of a legendary predator or a high-tech facsimile, one thing is certain: the dire wolf is back in the headlines—if not yet the wild.
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