In recent news, an almost alien concept of “un-extinction” has been spreading like wildfire across the media as the company, Colossal Biosciences, revealed their progress on returning the famous prehistoric animal, the dire wolf, from extinction. This widespread news is being spread as the 3 pups hit six months old and exhibiting their old traits that are showing in the wolves’ growth as they gain age.
Some traits the wolves are exhibiting include their drastic size, reaching a total weight of one hundred thirty to one hundred fifty pounds and being around six feet long (180cm). The dire wolf iconically took on this size over its evolutionary period twenty thousand years ago. This wolf variant also exhibited larger, more dense skulls made to withstand larger prey in comparison to its modern counterpart, the grey wolf. Though their skulls were drastic in size, their brains were noticeably smaller than that of its modern cousin, only being half as large in some estimates. While they have many differences, their similarities were quite evident, with lighter color fur, similar body structures and similar environments the species called home. The company took note on such features in a statement saying, “our analysis of the dire wolf genome revealed that they were stunning, with likely light, nearly white coats, sturdy legs and the unique craniofacial features of a true American super wolf.”
For genetic engineering, the 3 cubs were brought to life at the Colossal Biosciences Company which specializes in these prehistoric organisms long since lost to time. Although these pups are not 100% dire wolves since the grey wolf is a key contributor in its genetics and a few other species were used to fill in the gaps. Hypothetically, these are a new animal with mixed genes like mules more than one of the true largest wolf species to of lived. “Their software’s AI-driven insights helped Colossal identify and resolve complex genomic variations, ensuring high accuracy and reliability in the alignment issues,” said Colossal. This explains how they filled the gaps of the dire wolf’s genome with the grey wolf to gain the closest replica known to mankind.
The researchers who brought the wolves back utilized many techniques to gain such a clean genome despite the filled gaps by using a laboratory technique known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). This method used an ovum with a donor nucleus to properly make progress. The process being explained by Colossal as “the extraction of the nucleus from a stomatic cell, which is any cell of the body except sperm and egg cells. This nucleus contains the individual’s DNA; it is then inserted into an egg cell that has had its own nucleus removed.” The following cell would then develop into an embryo which would then bring us to the present.
For some, dire wolves have been a fictional concept in media such as Game of Thrones or ARK Survival Evolved although this possibility as shown is far from the truth. Some may also note that the creation of such organisms seems scary as media interpretation of resurrecting extinct animals such as in Jurassic Park has been demonstrated to go poorly. Though the return of these animals may teach us valuable information on their past habits, what their intellect was like, and noting just how similar or unchanged they are from their present versions such as the domesticated dog or grey wolf.
