Last week, Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences announced that they had genetically recreated a “dire wolf,” a carnivorous mammal that went extinct over 10,000 years ago. This revelation has since broken the internet, sparking various responses across social media. Some express excitement for this breakthrough while others question the ethics of such a feat.
Today, three dire wolves walk the face of planet Earth where seven months ago, there were none. Romulus and Remus, brothers, are two white dire wolves born in October last year. Several months later, their sister, Khaleesi, was born. The three currently live in a forest preserve where they have quick access to veterinarians and anything they need to live a healthy life.
Colossal is an organization known fundamentally for its de-extinction project, which has goals implied by its name. Colossal has previously made the news for its ambitions to bring back several ice-age animals, such as the woolly mammoth, dodo bird, and Tasmanian Tiger.
To recreate the dire wolf, bioscientists employed CRISPR, a genome editing technology, to edit the genes of the common gray wolf and supplement the important ones with those of a dire wolf. The arduous process involved first obtaining the genetic sequence of the dire wolf by extracting usable DNA from fossils.
Colossal cites their passion for this project being the goal of preventing Earth’s biodiversity crisis. It’s currently projected that by 2050, an estimated 50% of the varying species on Earth could go extinct. However, many important questions remain unanswered.
Critics claim that Colossal’s dire wolf is simply a modified version of the gray wolf, in that it’s not a gray wolf, but not quite a dire wolf either. Social media has reportedly blown Colossal’s announcement out of proportion, remarking it as false and misleading, only thriving off of social media hype.
Upon hearing the news of the dire wolf pups, however, one distinct science fiction franchise popped into each film lover’s mind: Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park is a series where several species of dinosaurs are genetically resurrected via similar technologies as used by Colossal and then showcased in a theme park.
Many drew correlations between Colossal’s de-extinction project and Jurassic Park, worried about the ethics of bringing an extinct species back to life. Jurassic Park’s grim ending remains as a message not to interfere with nature, and that seems to be exactly what Colossal is doing right now.
However, some share more optimistic views. “I think it’s important to continue pushing the bounds of innovation. Many important discoveries have come from studying unrelated fields and accidentally solving another problem. We shouldn’t hold back our human ingenuity just because we’re scared of what it could do,” Senior Rajan Vaidya said.
It’s still undecided whether or not de-extinction is ethical, but many, such as Vaidya, see it as a gateway for a myriad of scientific breakthroughs.
Senior Ethan Arter shares similar claims. “The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf is a major milestone towards harnessing the capabilities of genetic manipulation. As we continue to do more research and studies, this could lead to breakthroughs that benefit our society as a whole,” Arter said.
Prior to Colossal’s announced breakthrough, de-extinction was an idea only entertained in Hollywood. Now, people are wondering if dinosaurs are in the realm of possibility. While it’s unlikely that scientists would ever be able to genetically recreate a dinosaur, the de-extinction of the dire wolves marks a growing interest in turning science fiction into reality.
Autonomous cars, holograms and flying cars are just some of the examples of Hollywood concepts that have been engineered in the real world. On a smaller scale, creative movie lovers design new inventions based on ideas entertained in pop culture. The Hacksmith is one example that comes to mind.
The Hacksmith is a Canadian-made engineering YouTube channel that makes popular movie inventions, such as Batman’s grappling hook, Iron Man’s suit of armor or most famously Star Wars’ lightsaber in real life.
Rajan Vaidya continues with his perspective on the Hollywood-to-real-life trend. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing that people take inspiration from their favorite media. All big scientific breakthroughs start with an idea. Who cares if that idea comes from a movie? I don’t think there’s a problem with that at all,” Vaidya protested.
Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi are three dire wolves all born in the last seven months. While a cloud of controversy surrounds their existence, the world is excited to watch where that existence will drive science and how the things of fiction slowly creep into being a reality.
