Scientists genetically engineer wolves with white hair like extinct dire wolf

Three genetically engineered wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolves are trotting sleeping and howling in an undisclosed secure location in the US according to the company that aims to bring back lost speciesThe wolf pups which range in age from three to six months old have long white hair muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity researchers at Colossal Biosciences reported MondayDire wolves which went extinct more than 10000 years old are much larger than gray wolves their closest living relatives todayIndependent scientists said this latest effort doesnt mean dire wolves are coming back to North American grasslands any time soonAll you can do now is make something look superficially like something else not fully revive extinct species said Vincent Lynch a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the researchColossal scientists learned about specific traits that dire wolves possessed by examining ancient DNA from fossils The researchers studied a 13000 yearold dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72000 yearold skull fragment found in Idaho both part of natural history museum collectionsThen the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites said Colossals chief scientist Beth Shapiro They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog When ready embryos were transferred to surrogates also domestic dogs and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were bornColossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoths dodos and othersThough the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer because they wont have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents said Colossals chief animal care expert Matt JamesColossal also reported today that it had cloned four red wolves using blood drawn from wild wolves of the southeastern USs critically endangered red wolf population The aim is to bring more genetic diversity into the small population of captive red wolves which scientists are using to breed and help save the speciesThis technology may have broader application for conservation of other species because its less invasive than other techniques to clone animals said Christopher Preston a wildlife expert at the University of Montana who was not involved in the research But it still requires a wild wolf to be sedated for a blood draw and thats no simple feat he addedColossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team met with officials from the US Interior Department in late March about the project Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a iquestthrilling new era of scientific wonderiquest even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the pastWhatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct it cant perform those functions on todays existing landscapes said Buffalos LynchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params