“This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” said Ben Lamm, Colossal’s cofounder and CEO, in a news release. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies.”
Using ancient DNA extracted from two dire wolf fossils, Colossal’s scientists and collaborators said they were able to assemble two high-quality Aenocyon dirus genomes, or complete sets of genetic information.
The team compared the genomes with those of living canids such as wolves, jackals and foxes to identify the genetic variants for traits specific to dire wolves, such as white coats and longer, thick fur.
The company then used the information from the genetic analysis to alter gray wolf cells, making 20 edits in 14 genes before cloning the most promising cell lines and transferring them into donor eggs, according to the news release.
“Healthy developing embryos were then transferred into surrogates for interspecies gestation,” with three pregnancies that led to births of the first de-extinct species, Colossal revealed in its statement. The company confirmed to CNN that it used domestic dogs — specifically large, mixed-breed hounds — as surrogates.
Two male dire wolf pups were born on October 1, 2024, while a female pup was born on January 30, 2025, according to Colossal Biosciences.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/07/scien...pies.%E2%80%9D