Dire wolf brought back from extinction after 13,000 years, scientists claim – what to know

DALLAS - The dire wolf, made famous in the hit HBO series "Game of Thrones," has been genetically-engineered by scientists in the U.S. after going extinct more than 12,500 years ago. 

The birth of three wolf pups, named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi, is the world’s first "de-extinction," according to the company that aims to bring back lost species.

Here’s what to know:

Dire wolf brought back via Colossal Biosciences

The backstory:

Dire wolves lived across the American midcontinent during the Ice Age. The oldest confirmed dire wolf fossil, from Black Hills, South Dakota, is around 250,000 years old. The animals went extinct around 13,000 years ago, according to researchers at Colossal Biosciences.

Dire wolves were as much as 25% larger than gray wolves, their closest living relatives today. They had a slightly wider head, light thick fur, and a stronger jaw. As "hyper-carnivores," they ate at least 70% meat from mostly horses and bison. 

What we know:

Scientists at Colossal Biosciences learned about specific traits that dire wolves possessed by examining ancient DNA from fossils. The researchers studied a 13,000 year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000 year-old skull fragment found in Idaho, both part of natural history museum collections.

Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal's chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born.

The three wolf pups, which range in age from three to six months old, have long white hair, muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds — on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity, researchers said in a statement on Monday.

They’re currently living on a 2,000+ acre, undisclosed yet secure location that’s certified by the American Humane Society and registered with U.S. Department of Agriculture, Colossal said. It employs 10 full time animal care staff to support the wolves, which are continuously monitored "through on-site live cameras, security personnel, and drone tracking to ensure their safety and welfare."

Though the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves, "what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer," because they won't have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents, said Colossal's chief animal care expert Matt James.

Nonetheless, CEO Ben Lamm said the dire wolf milestone was "the first of many coming examples" that will successfully demonstrate the company’s de-extinction technology. 

Dig deeper:

The researchers noted how many people became introduced to the dire wolf through entertainment, rather than the natural world, thanks to mentions in video games like World of Warcraft and George R.R. Martin’s best-selling fantasy novel series, "A Song of Ice and Fire" and its famous TV adaptation, "Game of Thrones."

What they're saying:

"Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem," R.R. Martin said in a statement. The esteemed author is also an investor in Colossal. "I get the luxury to write about magic, but Ben and Colossal have created magic by bringing these majestic beasts back to our world."

Lamm said the team met with officials from the U.S. Interior Department in late March about the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a "thrilling new era of scientific wonder" even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the past.

Big picture view:

Colossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoths, dodos and others.

The other side:

Independent scientists not involved in the research said this latest effort doesn't mean dire wolves are coming back to North American grasslands any time soon.

"All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else"— not fully revive extinct species, Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo, told the Associated Press. 

"Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can’t perform those functions" on today's existing landscapes, Lynch added.