The post Bioscience Firm Combines Ancient DNA and Science to Bring Back the Dire Wolf appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based genetic engineering company, claimed this week it had “de-extincted” the dire wolf—thrilling scientists and Game of Thrones fans alike. While Colossal said the dire wolves were revived using ancient DNA, how close are they to the real thing? The company makes it clear that they’re not “cloning” in the traditional sense, instead, they’re using genetic engineering and synthetic biology in a process often referred to as “de-extinction” or “genetic rescue.” Colossal said it completed the de-extinction of the dire wolf using DNA extracted from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old inner ear bone. Combined with advanced gene editing and cloning technologies, the company produced three puppies named Remus, Romulus, and Khaleesi—an homage to both Roman mythology and Game of Thrones. “We de-extincted core genes from ancient DNA—just like Jurassic Park,” Colossal Biosciences founder and CEO Ben Lamm told Decrypt. “We found those genes and engineered them onto a wolf cell line. They’re not hybrids. We didn’t breed them together. We engineered them—just like Jurassic Park.” SOUND ON. You’re hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years. Meet Romulus and Remus—the world’s first de-extinct animals, born on October 1, 2024. The dire wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. These two wolves were brought back from extinction using… pic.twitter.com/wY4rdOVFRH — Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) April 7, 2025 Like Moo Deng before it, the excitement around the dire wolves even led to the launch of a dire wolf-themed Solana meme coin on Pump.fun. Lamm said Colossal partnered with conservationists and Indigenous groups to bring the project to life, noting that this collaboration was part of the decision to focus on species native to North America. “We’re running a buffalo restoration project to better understand population genetics and species diversity in the buffalo population,” he…

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Filed under: News - @ April 9, 2025 6:27 pm