De-extinction Project & Biodiversity - Biodiversity is projected to decrease by 27% in vertebrates by 2050 [1] - Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences claims to have brought back an extinct species of wolf, the direwolf [2] - Colossal aims to resurrect extinct species by generating organisms resembling and genetically similar to them, focusing on core genes [8] - Colossal plans to reintroduce woolly mammoths by 2028, along with projects involving the thylacine and dodo bird [15] Direwolf Project Details - Colossal used gene editing and cloning from ancient samples (13,000-year-old tooth and 72,000-year-old skull) to recreate direwolf pups [4] - Colossal identified 20 differences in 14 genes between grey wolf and direwolf genomes, accounting for distinguishing characteristics [5] - Direwolves existed from approximately 4 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, growing up to 178 cm and weighing 59-68 kg [9][10] - CRISPR technology was used to edit the genes, with five genes changed solely for the white coat characteristic [11][13] Species Definition & Project Validity - The definition of species involves interbreeding, while Colossal uses the morphological species concept (if they look like the animal, they are the animal) [6][7] - Greywolves are genetically more similar to jackals and African wild dogs than to direwolves [10] - Colossal currently has no plans for breeding the direwolves, which impacts the ability to determine if they can produce fertile offspring [14]