[Source/Observer Network, Chen Sijia] According to a report by the American Cable News Network (CNN) on April 8, an American biotechnology company recently claimed that they used the DNA of prehistoric organisms, cloning, and gene editing technology to "resurrect" the dire wolf, which went extinct about 12,500 years ago. The research team claims that this achievement makes the dire wolf the "first successfully resurrected animal in the world."
Colossal Biosciences, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, announced on April 7 that scientists successfully bred three "dire wolf pups" by altering the genes of gray wolves, which are closely related to dire wolves. The dire wolf is a famous prehistoric animal in North America, larger than gray wolves, with "slightly wider heads, light but thick fur, and stronger jaws."
In a statement, Ben Lamm, CEO of the company, said, "This is a huge milestone, the first example of our end-to-end engineering of extinct species sequences. Our team extracted DNA from teeth dating back 13,000 years and a skull dating back 72,000 years to cultivate healthy dire wolf pups."
The report states that the research team compared the DNA extracted from dire wolf fossils with the DNA of existing canids such as wolves, jackals, and foxes to identify genetic codes representing features like white fur and longer, thicker hair. Then, scientists used gene-editing technology to edit 14 genes in gray wolf cells 20 times and cultivated the edited cells into healthy developing embryos.
Subsequently, these embryos were transferred into domestic dogs acting as surrogate animals for further development. Beth Shapiro, Chief Science Officer of Colossal Biosciences, said that researchers completed eight transfers, with an average of 45 embryos per attempt.
A photo of the "dire wolf pups" released by Colossal Biosciences, exact date unknown, Visual China
According to Colossal Biosciences, two male "dire wolf pups" were born on October 1, 2024, and another female pup was born on January 30, 2025. Currently, these three pups live in an undisclosed facility covering 8 square kilometers, under strict surveillance by security personnel, drones, and real-time cameras.
However, the project to "resurrect the dire wolf" has sparked academic and ethical debates. Love Dalén, a professor at the Ancient Biology Center of Stockholm University, pointed out that Colossal Biosciences essentially edited the genes of gray wolves to breed modern hybrid animals with certain characteristics of the extinct dire wolves.
"In their genome, 99.9% of the genes belong to gray wolves. The scientific community hasn't clearly defined how much of the gray wolf's genes need to be changed to be considered a dire wolf. This is actually a philosophical question," Dalén said. "It carries the genes of the dire wolf, making it more similar to any other organism over the past 13,000 years. That's very cool."
In response, Shapiro said that the debate over whether these pups are "replicas of the dire wolf" ignores the key point.
Shapiro said, "I know the scientific community is saying, 'Oh, they're not genetically close enough to the dire wolf.' These classifications are human-defined frameworks useful for research, but they are tools, not truths, right? We successfully identified 20 precise genetic codes. It's not much, but we did it and restored the appearance differences of these animals in the process."
Shapiro told CNN that the team's goal is not to breed organisms with 100% identical genes to another species. "Our purpose in reviving extinct species is always to cultivate 'functional replicas' of these extinct species. We focus on identifying genes related to key characteristics."
Colossal Biosciences said they hope to use gene-editing technology to help protect endangered species. The research team has already used the technology developed in the dire wolf research project to breed two litters of cloned red wolves, an extremely endangered species recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Matt James, Chief Animal Officer of the company, said, "The red wolf is a species at risk due to insufficient genetic diversity. We can start using relevant technologies to enhance its genetic diversity, robustness, and adaptability to restoration plans to restore their population numbers."
Michael Knapp, an associate professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, believes that Colossal Biosciences correctly recognizes the role of related technologies in protecting endangered species, but these technologies still have limitations. "Genes increasing the species' fur can be introduced, but other inappropriate traits may also arise."
Many critics oppose using funds to "resurrect" extinct animals. Christopher Preston, a professor of environmental philosophy at the University of Montana, pointed out that the ecosystems these animals adapted to have long disappeared, making it hard to imagine what role a dire wolf like this would play in the modern ecosystem.
"In places like Montana, we face the challenge of maintaining healthy gray wolf populations amidst growing political opposition," Preston said. "It's hard to imagine extinct dire wolves being released and playing a role in the ecosystem. Therefore, it's necessary to ask what roles these new animals should play."
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