Colossal Announces World’s First De-Extinction: Birth of Dire Wolves

In a remarkable feat of scientific innovation, Colossal Biosciences, the world’s only de-extinction company, has announced the successful rebirth of the dire wolf. This American canid, long assumed a creature of legend thanks to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones, has been extinct for over 12,500 years. The birth of three dire wolf pups marks a revolutionary milestone, demonstrating a significant leap in Colossal’s de-extinction technologies.

How was the de–extinction made possible?

“I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” said CEO of Colossal Ben Lamm. He added, “Our team took DNA from a 13000 year old tooth and a 72000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.”

The three litters include adolescent males Romulus and Remus, and a female puppy Khaleesi. Colossal also celebrated the birth of two litters of cloned red wolves the world’s most critically endangered wolf using a novel non-invasive blood cloning approach. This success underscores the link between de-extinction efforts and the company’s growing capacity to support global conservation.

Harvard geneticist and co-founder of Colossal Dr George Church stated, “Preserving expanding and testing genetic diversity should be done well before important endangered animal species like the red wolf are lost. Another source of ecosystem variety stems from our new technologies to de-extinct lost genes, including deep ancient DNA sequencing polyphyletic trait, analyses multiplex germline editing and cloning. The dire wolf is an early example of this including the largest number of precise genomic edits in a healthy vertebrate so far. A capability that is growing exponentially.”

The dire wolves are thriving on a 2000+ acre secure ecological preserve. Colossal’s long term vision includes restoring the species in secure expansive ecological preserves potentially on indigenous land. MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox shared, “The de-extinction of the dire wolf is more than a biological revival. Its birth symbolises a reawakening – a return of an ancient spirit to the world.”

This achievement by Colossal Biosciences signals a new era in the potential for reversing extinction and bolstering global conservation efforts.