Qaseem Shah:
A historic scientific milestone, a biotech company has revealed two genetically engineered wolf pups, Romulus and Remus, as part of what it claims is the first-ever successful de-extinction process.
The announcement, shared on X (formerly Twitter), described the pups as having been “reborn” on October 1, 2024, through the use of DNA recovered from ancient, fossilized remains.
The extinct dire wolf, once widespread across North and South America—from Canada to Venezuela—disappeared over 10,000 years ago. However, preserved skeletal remains found throughout the continent offered researchers a genetic window into the species. This opportunity was seized by Colossal Biosciences, a company focused on species revival.
Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s lead scientist, shared with ABC News that she was confident from the start that the project would succeed. She explained that the team used the genome of the modern grey wolf, which shares 99.5% of its DNA with the dire wolf, and made specific genetic modifications to match the ancient genome.
Despite the excitement, not all experts are convinced. Evolutionary biologist Julie Meachen expressed skepticism, suggesting that the resulting animals may not be true dire wolves. “What we’re seeing might be more of a grey wolf with some dire wolf characteristics,” she told ABC News.
