Has gene editing resulted in the ‘de-extinction’ of the Ice Age’s dire wolf?

Scientists from Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences in Dallas, Texas, say that on October 1, 2024, it made history by successfully restoring a once-eradicated species through the science of ‘de-extinction’.

The company defines de-extinction as the ‘process of generating an organism that both resembles and is genetically similar to an extinct species by resurrecting its lost lineage of core genes’. It says its gene-editing technology also engineers natural resistances and enhances adaptability to enable the wolf to thrive in today’s environment of climate change, dwindling resources, disease and human interference.

After a 10 000+ year absence, Colossal says it is proud to return the dire wolf to its rightful place in the ecosystem.

From zero to hero?

“Colossal’s innovations in science, technology and conservation made it possible to accomplish something that’s never been done before: the revival of a species from its long-standing population of zero.”

Three modern dire wolves are the result of Colossal’s de-extinction programme. Romulus and Remus were born in October and Khaleesi in January. They live at Colossal’s high-security wildlife facility in an undisclosed location in the northern United States.

George R.R. Martin holds the first new dire wolf born in 10,000 years pic.twitter.com/5JPepJK8k1

— Winter is Coming (@WiCnet) April 8, 2025

Dire wolves, though visually similar to today’s grey wolves and jackals, had a distinct genetic lineage. Unlike the grey wolf and jackal, which can produce hybrid offspring with related species, no current data shows interbreeding between dire wolves and other canids.

Colossal documents the phases of its ‘dire pack’ on its website, stating that, like all mammals, dire wolves experience physical and cognitive changes as they mature from newborn pups into fully-grown adults.

How were the wolves brought back?

According to an article published by Complex, Colossal tapped two fossilised specimens – a 13 000-year-old tooth from Ohio; and an inner ear bone from Idaho, estimated to be 72 000 years old.

“Together, those samples delivered what’s called 36x genome coverage – 140 times the data density of any previously sequenced dire wolf genome.

“By comparing the dire wolf’s DNA to that of other modern canids – like grey wolves – Colossal identified the unique traits that made them dire: Muscle mass, whisker length, and even vocalisations. Using a process known as multiplex CRISPR editing, scientists introduced over 20 gene edits across 14 loci (physical location of a specific gene on a chromosome), customising the DNA to recreate the prehistoric predator.

Are Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi dire wolves?

In an interview with Fox 9 Minneapolis, Paul Grant Spickelmier, the executive director of the International Wolf Centre in Italy, says dire wolves were one of the large apex predators that lived in the Ice Age.

“Interestingly, scientists are quite conflicted about how closely related they are to wolves today. The most recent science says they belong in their genus… they are more separated from wolves than, say, coyotes, African wild dogs or other canids out there. But they served the same ecological role at that time as a large canid that would hunt in packs and take down prey,” he said.

Spickelmier explained that Colossal took genetics out of fossilised dire wolf bones.

“They didn’t immediately make a cloned dire wolf out of that; they had to start with some grey wolf DNA. They compared the two DNAs and rewrote some of the grey wolf DNA with dire wolf genes.

“So it’s probably a more accurate description to say these are grey wolves with dire wolf characteristics, rather than true dire wolves,” said Spickelmier.

His concern, however, is that the environment is ‘very different to what it was 20 000 to 50 000 years ago’.

“There is no place on this planet that would be appropriate to reintroduce dire wolves.

“Their prey is gone, the ecology has changed… The idea of releasing dire wolves back into the environment is something I don’t see a future for,” he said.

Watch the full interview:

Experts say dire wolves are not back from extinction

Zoologist Philip Seddon of the University of Otago in New Zealand echoed Spickelmier’s sentiments when he told BBC that the ‘dire’ wolves are ‘genetically modified grey wolves’.

Paleogeneticist Dr Nic Rawlence, also from Otago University, explained to BBC how ancient dire wolf DNA – extracted from fossilised remains – is too degraded and damaged to biologically copy or clone.

“Ancient DNA is like if you put fresh DNA in a 500-degree oven overnight. It comes out fragmented – like shards and dust.

“You can reconstruct [it], but it’s not good enough to do anything else with.”

Instead, he told BBC, the de-extinction team used new synthetic biology technology – using the ancient DNA to identify key segments of code that they could edit into the biological blueprint of a living animal, in this case, a grey wolf.

“So what Colossal has produced is a grey wolf, but it has some dire wolf-like characteristics, like a larger skull and white fur. It’s a hybrid.”

Watch: Return of the dire wolf – scientists tout breakthrough as critics ponder implications

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