De-Extinction: The Dire Wolf is Back

I’ve been following de-extinction science for a while now. I’ve been writing a book for the past almost ten years, a sci-fi novel set 100 years from now which I will probably never finish. I stopped writing it after Trump won in 2016 because everything changed. I was headed in the right path—two Americas, the Left controlled entirely by AI and medication, and the Right living in the “freedom states.”

Writing this book sent me down the rabbit hole of politics because so many scientists had dire warnings about the future if climate change raised the ocean's temperature, etc. I thought I had to help the Democrats win because otherwise, that would be the end of everything. Little did I know, those apocalyptic visions were a feature, not a bug.

One of the things I was writing about was de-extinction. I imagined bringing back the Neanderthals and all of the things that would go wrong by bringing back a species we know nothing about (see: Jurassic Park).

Scientists have been working on this for quite some time, as they have also been working on gene editing with CRISPr. Both of these have potentially disastrous results, but we seem unable to stop ourselves. Because it’s there will always be the answer.

From Business Wire:

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Colossal Biosciences, the world’s only de-extinction company, today announces the rebirth of the once extinct dire wolf, the world’s first successfully de-extincted animal. The dire wolf, largely assumed to be a legendary creature made famous from the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, was an American canid that had previously been extinct for over 12,500 years. The successful birth of three dire wolves is a revolutionary milestone of scientific progress that illustrates another leap forward in Colossal’s de-extinction technologies and is a critical step on the pathway to the de-extinction of other target species.

Additionally, Colossal has birthed two litters of cloned red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf in the world, using a new approach to non-invasive blood cloning. The birth of red wolves provides further evidence of the link between de-extinction efforts and the company’s growing capacity to support conservation efforts globally through de-extinction technology innovation.

This news comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the Colossal woolly mouse, which previously held the record for unique germline edits in an animal with 8 precision edits. With the dire wolves, Colossal has made 20 unique precision germline edits including 15 edits from the ancient gene variants that have not existed in over 12,000 years, setting a new bar for precision germline editing in any animal.

“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. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”

The three litters of Colossal’s dire wolves include two adolescent males (Romulus and Remus) and one female puppy (Khaleesi). Colossal also birthed two litters of red wolves from three different genetic founder lines. These litters include one adolescent female red wolf (Hope) and three male red wolf puppies (Blaze, Cinder, and Ash).

“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,” said Harvard geneticist and co-founder of Colossal, Dr. George Church.

The wolves are thriving on a 2,000+ acre secure expansive ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with USDA. Colossal employs ten full time animal care staff to support the wolves’ physical and mental well-being. The entire preserve, which includes specialized engagement zones and habit types, is enclosed by 10-foot-tall, zoo-grade fencing with redundant perimeter security. Within the preserve, the wolves are continuously monitored through on-site live cameras, security personnel, and drone tracking to ensure their safety and welfare. The preserve includes a smaller, six acre secure site where the dire wolves can be further tended to and studied. This smaller area also supports an on-site veterinary clinic, a wolf management facility, an outdoor storm shelter, and natural built dens for the wolves.

“Colossal has achieved American Humane Society Certification, the prestigious designation ensuring excellence in animal welfare and care. Optimal welfare is evidenced by spacious habitats with ample space and opportunity for animals to socialize, exercise, and exhibit natural behaviors. Staff are passionate, highly engaged and devoted to the animals in their care. We congratulate Colossal as a shining example of excellence in humane care and welfare. The technology they are pursuing may be the key to reversing the sixth mass extinction and making extinction events a thing of the past.” - Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., CEO of American Humane Society

Here is more:

The Science Behind the Return of the Dire Wolf

The birth of dire wolf pups proves the efficacy of Colossal’s de-extinction protocols and the feasibility of creating a standardized toolkit for de-extinction. The dire wolf pups set the record for number of precise genetic edits in any living species. The company performed a record 20 precise edits to the genome, all modifications derived from analysis of the dire wolf genome with 15 of those edits being the exact extinct variants. Together these edits contribute to a larger, stronger body and a longer, fuller coat with light pigmentation.

To de-extinct the dire wolf, Colossal:

• Extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils;

• Assembled ancient genomes from both, and compared those to genomes from living canids including wolves, jackals, foxes, and dholes;

• Identified gene variants specific to dire wolves;

• Determined that dire wolves had a white coat color, and long thick fur – aspects of the dire wolf phenotype that were unknowable from fossils and consistent with animals that lived during cold periods of the Pleistocene ice ages;

• Performed multiplex gene editing to a donor genome from their closest living relative, the gray wolf, resulting in edits 20 sites in 14 genes with 15 of those edits being extinct variants;

• Screen edited cell lines via whole genome sequencing and karyotyping;

• Cloned high quality cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer into donor egg cells;

• Performed embryo transfer and managed interspecies surrogacy; and,

• Successfully birthed an extinct species.

Colossal extracted ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils: a tooth from Sheridan Pit, Ohio, that is around 13,000 years old, and an inner ear bone from American Falls, Idaho, around 72,000 years old. The team deeply sequenced the extracted DNA and used Colossal’s novel approach to iteratively assemble high quality ancient genomes, resulting in a 3.4-fold coverage genome from the tooth and 12.8-fold coverage genome from the inner ear bone. Together, this data provided more than 500x more coverage of the dire wolf genome than was available previously.

The full story is here.

Of course, we’re just moments away from gene editing in people. We are already there but in very limited ways.

One of the concepts I was ruminating on is this fixation on identity. Let’s say you could pick the color of your child’s skin, for instance, or their eyes, or their physical talent. It’s easy to see how this could make for great dystopian sci-fi novels. For instance, maybe you’d want a child “of color” to eradicate whiteness.

How long before we can do head transplants, like the Chinese are already experimenting with, so I’m told. Poor animals have to be the ones who suffer.

In my novel, I envisioned an army of super-soldiers with their 20-foot-high Pitt bull army. I also envisioned humans living to be 150, but then so afraid of dying they lock themselves away, Howard Hughes style.

In my novel, they also revive Neanderthals and turn them into a reality TV show. Grim, I know, but funny.

Anyway, what do you think about this?