A species of wolf not seen for 12,000 years but popularised in fantasy series Game of Thrones has been “de-extincted”, a US biotech company has said.
Scientists created three dire wolf pups using ancient DNA, cloning and gene-editing technology to alter the genes of a grey wolf – the species’ closest living relative, Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has claimed.
It used surrogate dogs to carry the embryos and give birth to the pups. The three resulting pups – two males and a female – are essentially a grey wolf-dire wolf hybrid species, similar in appearance to the larger, extinct species.
“I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” Colossal chief executive Ben Lamm said on Monday.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.”
The dire wolf, Aenocyon dirus, was a top predator in the Americas from about 125,000 years ago to about 12,000 years ago. Its demise has been linked to the extinction of large prey animals.
Dire wolves were larger than grey wolves and “had a slightly wider head, light thick fur and stronger jaw”, Colossal said.
The animal features in HBO series Game of Thrones, in which some characters have the animal as a companion.
The male dire wolves have been named Remus and Romulus and the younger female is called Khaleesi, a popular character in the show. They live in a fenced-in nature reserve in a secret US location.
The brothers are about 20 to 25 per cent bigger than their closest living relative, the grey wolf, would be at their age, according to Colossal. It estimates they will weigh 63kg when fully grown.
In 2022, Colossal announced its goal to bring the woolly mammoth back to life – though it has only so far managed to create a woolly mouse. The company has pitched its gene-editing technology as not just a way to bring back prehistoric wonders, but also to develop lucrative applications in health and biodiversity.
Colossal also reportedly has plans for the de-extinction of the thylacine – or Tasmanian tiger – and the dodo.
However, there is criticism of Colossal's claims. Dire wolf DNA is 99.5 per cent identical to that of grey wolves, Colossal told New Scientist. But that tiny percentage of difference could consist of millions of base pairs. Critics have said that dire wolves might have many other genetic differences not accounted for in the changes made by Colossal’s team.
“We have a mostly grey wolf that looks like a dire wolf,” Julie Meachen, a vertebrate paleontologist from Des Moines University who wrote a paper on the evolution of dire wolves told ABC News.
“I don’t think they are actually dire wolves," added Ms Meachen, who was not involved in the project.
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Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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