'World's first de-extinction': Dire wolves howl again, back after 12,500 years of extinction (WATCH)

Researchers have successfully re-introduced the long-extinct dire wolf ushering in what many are calling a new epoch in genetic engineering and conservation biology.

Colossal Biosciences, a genetic engineering company at the forefront of de-extinction technology, has announced the birth of three living dire wolves, reborn from the depths of prehistory. The trio are named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi.

Once formidable apex predators roaming the landscapes of North and South America, dire wolves vanished nearly 12,000 years ago, likely due to the disappearance of their primary prey during the end of the last Ice Age. But now, thanks to breakthroughs in biotechnology, they walk among us once again.

“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” said Ben Lamm, Colossal's CEO and co-founder, DailyMail reported.

Utilizing fossilized DNA extracted from ancient remains specifically a 13,000-year-old tooth from Ohio and a 72,000-year-old inner ear bone from Idaho—scientists reconstructed the dire wolf genome. The genetic code was then fused with that of the gray wolf, the dire wolf’s closest extant relative.

The cloning process involved somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the nucleus of a body cell was implanted into a donor egg. The resulting embryos were implanted into surrogate mothers, leading to the birth of three thriving pups in October 2024.

The pups now roam a sprawling 2,000-acre secure ecological preserve in the United States, marking the first successful de-extinction of a species in history.

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Reviving woolly mammoth by 2028

Last month, the company unveiled a “woolly mouse” created using genes from the iconic woolly mammoth. But the dire wolf marks their boldest resurrection yet, as Colossal builds toward its ultimate goal: reviving the woolly mammoth by 2028.

"Our novel approach to iteratively improve our ancient genome in the absence of a perfect reference sets a new standard for paleogenome reconstruction," said Dr. Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s Chief Science Officer.

"Together with improved approaches to recover ancient DNA, these computational advances allowed us to resolve the evolutionary history of dire wolves and establish the genomic foundation for de-extinction – specifically for selecting with confidence dire wolf specific genetic variants that establish our targets for gene editing."

Using gray wolves as a genetic foundation, scientists edited 15 extinct dire wolf variants into their genomes, essentially awakening genetic traits that had lain dormant for millennia. The result: animals that once again express genes unseen on Earth for over 10,000 years.

"The de-extinction of the dire wolf and an end-to-end system for de-extinction is transformative and heralds an entirely new era of human stewardship of life," said Dr. Christopher Mason, scientific advisor at Colossal.

“The same technologies that created the dire wolf can directly help save a variety of other endangered animals as well.”

Dire wolves, known for their massive build—up to 25% larger than modern gray wolves, powerful jaws, and thick, pale fur—were hyper-carnivores with diets dominated by large prey like horses and bison. Their dramatic return represents not just a scientific miracle but a rewriting of extinction itself.

Bolstered by a staggering $200 million in fresh funding, Colossal is now valued at $10.2 billion and plans to scale its technologies for broader applications—including the long-awaited resurrection of the woolly mammoth.

“Our recent successes in creating the technologies necessary for our end-to-end de-extinction toolkit have been met with enthusiasm by the investor community,” said Lamm.

“This funding will grow our team, support new technology development, expand our de-extinction species list while continuing to allow us to carry forth our mission to make extinction a thing of the past.”

Colossal has already sequenced the mammoth genome and developed elephant stem cells capable of evolving into various cell types. Now, with CRISPR and other advanced gene-editing tools, scientists are meticulously inserting mammoth genes—such as those responsible for their shaggy coats—into Asian elephant DNA, which shares 95% of its genetic code with mammoths.

“We’ve set one timeline which is late 2028 for the first mammoth calves and we are currently on track for that,” Lamm previously told DailyMail.com.

“We are able to change each rung of the ladder, but now we also have the ability to engineer new pieces of the ladder that we want to be there.”

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