You heard it right! Scientists at Colossal Biosciences have resurrected the dire wolf, which has been extinct for over 13,000 years. This company extracted DNA from an ancient dire wolf tooth and skull to create two dire wolf genomes—a complete set of genetic information—so they could compare this DNA to similar species such as jackals, dholes and other wolves (USA Today).
Colossal was deemed successful in their endeavor when surrogate domestic dog mothers gave birth to three dire wolves named: Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. When I first saw one of the wolves was named Romulus, I was scared it was a bad omen due to the Alien movie having the same name; however, I learned that Romulus and Remus are a packaged deal. Because the two male dire wolves were twins, Colossal named them after the two brothers who founded Rome in 753 BC (New York Times). If you’ve watched “Game of Thrones,” you’d know the female dire wolf was named after the show’s leading character.
I find this whole situation fearfully fascinating. On one hand, we have people in our world who are smart enough to bring back extinct species through a process called “de-extinction,” but on the other hand, we have people that are bringing back species that went extinct! From the Ice Age! Dire wolves’ diets consisted of ground sloths, bison and camels (National Park Service), and Colossal infers that these wolves went after Woolly mammoths on occasion. I may not be a professional, but I don’t think we have Woolly mammoths around anymore.
Colossal Biosciences, with their infinite wisdom, thought of this too. They actually founded their company with the goal of bringing the woolly mammoth back from extinction, but the logistics of that made them put it on the back burner. They have, however, made cute woolly mice (USA Today).
Maybe if I was more into “Game of Thrones” or “Dungeons and Dragons,” I would find this more exciting rather than terrifying, but I’m lowkey terrified of what de-extinction entails. I’m aware Colossal is being very careful with the DNA they’re manipulating, but now that this is a successful, published finding, there are bound to be copy-cats. Copy-cats that aren’t worth 10 billion dollars and don’t have support from multiple people and organizations such as The MHA (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara) Nation in North Dakota, the Red Wolf Recovery Program and investors like Peter Jackson and Tom Brady (New York Times). Someone is going to try to do de-extinction the “DIY way,” and people and animals are going to get hurt.
Also, as a fellow American citizen, I do not want a historical apex predator that is known to be significantly larger than the wolves we already have to be roaming through my backyard. I do not want an animal that regularly sharpened their teeth on bones (National Park Service) to be anywhere near my person.
As cute as Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi are now… I don’t want their grown, funky bodies released into North and South America’s ecosystem for the safety of cowardly humans such as myself. Round of applause to Colossal Biosciences, but keep them away from me. I’ve read and watched way too many dystopian stories to take this discovery with any sense of calm.
Hide your babies, people! Dire wolves are coming for you.
