The dire wolf is back — at least according to the company that made headlines earlier this month for the world’s first “de-extinction.”
Animal species are going extinct at an alarming rate. In fact, scientists suggest we are currently in the sixth mass extinction, with the leading cause being anthropogenic, caused by human activity.
According to the the IUCN Red List, “more than 47,000 species (are) threatened with extinction, including 44% of reef building corals, 41% of amphibians, 38% of trees, 37% of sharks and rays, 34% of conifers, 26% of mammals, 26% of freshwater fishes and 12% of birds.”
Every day, thousands of scientists work to slow the decline of biodiversity. Dozens of organizations strive to protect endangered species and millions of people donate, educate or support these missions. All of this work contributes to one goal: protecting the animals on Earth.
Colossal Biosciences is a company with the mission to redefine de-extinction to focus less on the past and instead on a more sustainable future.
Earlier this month, the company made headlines for its “de-extinction” of the dire wolves, a species that existed 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch.
“For the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction,” the company wrote on its website.
However, the veracity of Colossal’s “de-extinction” claims has been questioned by various organizations and scientists around the globe.
Unlike Jurassic Park, DNA was not extracted from ancient fossils and reworked to produce dire wolf pups. Instead, Colossal focused on key traits of the ancient DNA that contributed to the wolf’s physical traits, such as fur color.
Using these key traits, scientists edited modern grey wolf genomes (the genetic instruction manual found in cells) to mimic the physical traits. The edited DNA sequences were turned into embryos and then planted into a surrogate canine.
While it’s not Jurassic Park-level de-extinction, it might be the next best thing.
Colossal doesn’t plan to stop with the dire wolves. The company has plans to de-extinct the dodo and the woolly mammoth, the latter of which saw a breakthrough earlier this year.
In March, Colossal scientists revealed they had bred “woolly mice,” genetically engineered mice with the woolly hair and accelerated metabolism of the mammoth.
“It (didn’t) bring us any closer to a mammoth…it does validate the work we are doing on the path to a mammoth,” company CEO Ben Lamm told Time.
George R.R. Martin, beloved author of “Game Of Thrones,” had a chance to visit the pups before the news broke. His series first brought dire wolves into the public eye.
“I visited the La Brea Tar Pits in LA a few decades back, and when I saw their direwolf exhibit, four hundred skulls arrayed on a wall, something stirred inside me,” Martin wrote on his website. “…But it grabbed hold of me so hard that I put the other novel aside and began to write “A Song of Fire & Ice.” The direwolves were a huge part of it. Without them, Westeros might not exist.”
Today, the wolves — named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi (after the character in Martin’s critically-acclaimed book series) — live in an “expansive ecological preserve” and are cared for by “ten full-time animal care staff,” the author wrote.
In its attempt to quell the sixth mass extinction, Colossal’s work will continue to bring future scientific advancement, whether or not it meets the definition of de-extinction.
