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USA Today reports on Colossal Biosciences’ groundbreaking achievement: successfully bringing back the extinct dire wolf. The biotech company announced the birth of three dire wolf puppies—Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—using DNA extracted from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull. Researchers identified the gray wolf as the dire wolf’s closest living relative (sharing 99.5% of their DNA) and made 20 precise edits across 14 genes to recreate distinctive dire wolf traits including light-colored coats, larger size, and powerful musculature. Now six months old, the male pups already display the species’ characteristic features—thick fur, broader shoulders, and larger build—as they roam a secure 2,000-acre preserve in the northern U.S. The article explains how Colossal’s work with wolves began after meetings with the MHA Nation in North Dakota and North Carolina conservation officials about red wolf recovery. During the dire wolf project, researchers developed a less invasive blood-based cloning technique that allowed them to create four endangered red wolf puppies, demonstrating how these technologies can support modern conservation efforts. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm notes this achievement proves their “end-to-end de-extinction toolkit” works with ancient DNA, while scientists like Elinor Karlsson from the Broad Institute praise the innovation’s potential for preserving endangered species. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/04/07/dire-wolf-returns-colossal-de-extinction/82774316007/