Colossal Biosciences Claims Dire Wolf Revival, Experts Skeptical

Colossal Biosciences' Dire Wolf Claim

• 💡 Colossal Biosciences claims to have produced three direwolves by genetically modifying a modern gray wolf using fossil DNA.
• 📌 Footage released by the company purportedly shows adolescent direwolves named Romulus and Remis.
• ⚠️ Reuters could not independently verify these claims or the details of the video footage.

Scientific Skepticism and Challenges

• 🔬 Professor Cory Bradshaw suggests that bringing back a truly extinct species like the direwolf is impossible due to DNA degradation over time.
• 💬 Bradshaw posits that Colossal may have created a slightly modified gray wolf, rather than a true direwolf, using retrieved direwolf genetic material.
• 🧬 Colossal states they extracted DNA from a 13,000-year-old direwolf tooth and a 72,000-year-old inner earbone.

Broader Implications of De-extinction

• 🚀 Colossal Biosciences also claims to be the first to use CRISPR gene editing for species de-extinction research, citing recent work on red wolves and woolly mammoths.
• 🌍 Bradshaw highlights significant challenges with de-extinction, questioning where these animals would be placed and the feasibility of creating a genetically viable population.
• 📈 A viable population requires thousands of genetically diverse individuals for long-term survival, a hurdle for de-extinction efforts.