1 week Ago
A US bioscience and genetic engineering company has announced the world’s first successfully "de-extincted animal” —the dire wolf, which became extinct over 12,500 years ago. In a statement, Colossal Biosciences said that it birthed three dire wolves, named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi. A team of scientists used gray wolves, which is the closest living relative of dire wolves, as the donor species for establishing cell lines.
Specifically, 15 extinct dire wolf variants were edited into the donor gray wolf genome, “creating dire wolves that express genes that have not been expressed for more than 10,000 years.” “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” said Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm in a statement. “This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” he added.
Aside from dire wolves, the company also said it birthed two litters of red wolves, which are believed to be the most critically endangered wolf in the world, using a non-invasive blood cloning method. The wolves are currently in a 2,000+ acre secure ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Colossal Biosciences said it has employed ten full-time animal care staff to support the wolves’ physical and mental well-being.
—Giselle Ombay/ VAL, GMA Integrated News.
