What Makes a Dire Wolf a Dire Wolf? Newsweek Explores the Science and the Question Behind It
How Colossal Biosciences used ancient DNA and targeted gene editing to bring an Ice Age predator back to life
Newsweek takes a thorough look at the science, the animals, and the questions surrounding Colossal Biosciences’ dire wolf revival. Starting with fossils, including a 13,000-year-old tooth from Ohio and a 72,000-year-old skull from Idaho, Colossal’s team reconstructed the dire wolf genome to a 91 percent match and identified 20 edits across 14 genes that define the species’ most distinctive traits: its larger frame, heavier jaw, powerful shoulders, and white coat. The result was Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, three animals that are already behaving less like domestic dogs and more like the apex predators their genetics reflect. Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro framed the broader mission simply: “If we want a future that is both bionumerous and filled with people, we should be giving ourselves the opportunity to see what our big brains can do to reverse some of the bad things that we’ve done to the world already.”
Read the full feature at Newsweek.