In brief
In a stunning advance for de-extinction science, Colossal Biosciences has created three wolf pups that possess genes reminiscent of the long-gone dire wolf, which disappeared over 13,000 years ago.
April 7, 2025, 12:33 p.m. ET In a remarkable experiment that may change conservation methods forever, scientists from Colossal Biosciences claim to have revived the essence of the dire wolf, a species that has captured public interest largely due to its depiction in the hit series “Game of Thrones.” By harnessing advanced genetic editing techniques, researchers retrieved and utilized DNA from dire wolf fossils dating back 13,000 years.Leading the charge, Colossal's team has edited 20 specific genes in gray wolves, effectively bestowing them with distinct characteristics associated with their ancestors. Following the gene editing, embryos created from theses modified wolf cells were implanted into surrogate dogs, resulting in the birth of three vibrant wolf pups—two males, Romulus and Remus, both aged six months, and a female named Khaleesi, just two months old.These pups exhibit unique traits such as larger body size and dense, pale fur, traits not typically observed in regular gray wolves. Colossal Biosciences, a firm valued at an astonishing $10 billion as of January, rears these extraordinary animals at an undisclosed, expansive 2,000-acre facility in the northern United States.Beth Shapiro, Colossal's Chief Scientific Officer, heralded this achievement as a historic milestone in de-extinction science, describing it as the creation of "functional copies of something that used to be alive." While these dire wolf-like pups will remain in a controlled environment, the technology developed through this endeavor holds promise for conserving other endangered species, such as the critically endangered red wolf, primarily found in North Carolina.
