To be very, very clear: it is theoretically possible to bring back some (recently) extinct animals.
But only theoretically.
And what Colossal Biosciences has done is certainly not that.
They appear to have done some (legitimately impressive) gene editing work on some grey wolf cells, using information derived from sequencing the genome of both the grey wolf and the dire wolf, thus creating 3 grey wolf embryos with novel variants in 14 genes. These embryos were then implanted in domestic dogs for incubation.
So, a complicated mix of several things, each of which we only vaguely understand.
What they’ve made here are:
- 3 grey wolves,
- with dog epigenetic influences
- and maybe some dire wolf-like traits
Biological categories are fuzzy and can blur together at the edges, sure, but this doesn’t even come close to “de-extinction”.
This is not exactly a wolf, but it’s certainly not a dire wolf.
I’m seeing commentary from knowledgeable folks saying that the technical accomplishment in the gene editing is actually pretty impressive.
My training on these topics is decades out of date, and was pretty basic to start with; I’m not really equipped to evaluate the tech details.
So, ya know, congratulations?
But no matter how impressive the technical accomplishment may be, it doesn’t do anyone any good to encourage the public to think that this is a legit “de-extinction” event or that we understand any of the biological systems involved as well as that would imply.
It’s not, and we don’t.
And pretending that we do is not helpful.
They are cute puppies, though.
