A species of fierce wolf was brought to life that lived 13,000 years ago. “Dire Wolf” became known because of the movie “Game of Thrones”

Researchers at an American genetic company say they have brought back to life, starting from very old DNA, a species of prehistoric wolf who lived 13,000 years ago. In the last months, three chicks who have a lot in common with their ancestors have been born.

A hybrid species that has a lot in common with the missing ancestor

The Latin name of the species is “Aenocyon Dirus”, and in English it is called “Dire Wolf”, which can be translated by “fierce wolf”, “terrible wolf” or “terrible wolf”. The news was reported by CNN and New York Times.

For more than a decade, scientists in the field of genetics have pursued the idea of ​​bringing back missing species, and the most captivating discussions are about mammals, but it is very complicated and there are many ethical, not just technological and biological problems.

Now, a company called Colossal Biosciences says that it has brought to life a wolf species that disappeared 13,000 years ago, a species that became famous because of the series “War of Thrones”.

Researchers at Colossal Biosciences have created three wolf chicks using ancient DNA, cloning and genetic editing technology, to change the genes of a gray wolf, the closest “life relative” of the prehistoric wolf, the company announced. The result is practically a hybrid species, similar in appearance to its missing ancestor.

This prehistoric wolf, “Aenocyon Dirus”, which was also present in the series “War of the Thrones”, was a top predator who wandered many millennia. Those “terrible wolves” were greater than the gray wolves and had “a little wider head, light and thick fur and a stronger mandible,” say the company.

Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi

The researchers managed four years ago to extract DNA from the fossils of the “terrible wolves”, which disappeared about 13,000 years ago.

Colossal bioscience geneticists edited 20 genes of gray wolves, to give them essential features of prehistoric wolves. Then they created embryos from the modified cells of some gray wolves, implanted them in the “surrogate mothers” and waited for the birth of the chicks.

There are two males and a two -month -old female, called Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi and they all have a series of features of prehistoric wolves: 2025 are big and have a thick, light color, different from the gray wolves from which it started.

Males were born in October 2024, and the female in January.

Colossal has been working in 2021 on the life of the mammoths, the Dodo bird and the Tasmanian tiger, but so far he had not said anything about the gray wolves.

“Technology works”

“This important moment is the first of the many evidence to show that our technology works,” says Ben Lamm, co -founder and CEO of Colossal, quoted by CNN. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and created healthy wolf chicks.”

The three wolves live in a secret location, surrounded by 3-meter high fences, where they are supervised in real time by security staff, drones and video cameras.

The company hopes that the same technologies that have allowed the creation of the prehistoric wolf could directly help the endangered species. Colossal says he has developed new cloning techniques, much less invasive than those of the past.

The criticism of the return to life of missing species for a long time say that the huge amounts of money invested in such projects could be better used for other purposes and adds that the reproduction and growth of these hybrid creatures could endanger live animals used as “surrogate mothers”.