Some people will tell you that the dire wolves are back, while others will tell you they are not. Colossal Biosciences kicked off an avalanche of media coverage, including both hype and harsh criticism, when the company said it brought back dire wolves, an extinct species given renewed popularity by its role in the Game of Thrones franchise, using gene-editing and cloning technology.
We will discuss the details of what Colossal has accomplished, but this technology also raises a bigger question with wider-reaching implications: What does de-extinction mean for the living world and endangered species fighting for survival?
Proxy dire wolves
Three animals — two males named Romulus and Remus and a female named Khaleesi — are at the center of the controversy.
Colossal created the wolf pups by taking DNA from an existing species, the gray wolf, and making 20 edits to 14 genes designed to produce traits associated with the dire wolf: size, the color of their coats and more. The embryos were implanted into large dogs and reportedly delivered by a planned cesarean section.
Much of the debate around this issue has centered on whether gene-edited gray wolves can be accurately called
