Ice Age Resurrection: The Rise from the Grave of Dire Wolves

By Joshua Wang,

The Lawrenceville School, NJ

On October 1, 2024, a species that had been extinct for over 10,000 years was brought back to life when two dire wolves, Romulus and Remus, were born. Dire wolves, known as Aenocyon dirus, had become extinct in the Pleistocene Epoch before recently being brought back to life by collecting and molding DNA to fit into current populations of wolves. With new scientific advancements and technology in DNA resurrection and paleogenomics, the de-extinction of dire wolves marks the beginning of a new era in biology, stemming towards enhanced biodiversity and excitement in the improvement of medical resources.

The mastermind behind the resurrection of dire wolves stems from Colossal, a company focusing on de-extinction of organisms in pursuit of sustaining the biodiversity of Earth’s environment. Colossal reminds us that current environmental decline “is a modern problem [and], without intervention, it will pervade our future, too” (Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences). 50+ scientists from Colossal’s international team searched and found the bodies of dire wolves, taking samples before the re-introduction of dire wolf DNA.

Exciting new advancements in biotech and innovative practices help preserve the achievement of dire wolves. With computational biology, genome engineering, embryology, and stem cell programming, scientists essentially have been able to extract dire wolf DNA and transform the DNA of gray wolves to retain the same traits (Colossal). Scientists edited 20 sites of 14 genes in gray wolf DNA, before using the new genome to create an embryo and implant in a surrogate mother (Crispr Medicine News). Colossal is still endeavoring to raise the new pups, and their progress can be seen on their website.

By creating a new hybrid breed of a previously extinct mammal, Colossal has built the foundation to new resources in medical fields and further endeavors to increase Earth’s biodiversity. The company’s main goal as spoken by Colossal’s Director of Species Restoration, Sara Ord, is to “fundamentally reshape our understanding of what's possible through de-extinction conservation” in the biosystem. Technology by Colossal can potentially help save the millions of endangered species still on Earth today, and resurrect de-extinct animals from millions of years ago. More importantly to humans, the de-extinction of dire wolves comes to a great economic benefit. Deer in the USA have caused tens of millions of damages to farmers’ crops. In New Jersey alone, 15 million dollars worth of damages to crops are caused by deer each year, due to an uncontrolled overpopulation of the species. By adding more wolves into the ecosystem, dire wolves can control deer population naturally. More diversification of other ecosystems from de-extinction can see similar results, leading to a demand for Colossal’s technology to preserve the wildly varied ecosystems on Earth.

Recent advancements in biotechnology have given us the possibility to de-extinct organisms from thousands to millions of years back. Dire wolves pose as only one of the first notable de-extinction efforts to sustain Earth’s biodiversity and balance ecosystems. As the field progresses, we will only see more crucial species from past millenia appear today, and the vital effects they will bring to the Earth that we, right now, are alive and able to call home.

Works Cited----

"Colossal Announces World's First De-Extinction: Birth of Dire Wolves." Crispr Medicine News, Crispr Medicine Media, 7 Apr. 2025,

crisprmedicinenews.com/press-release-service/card/colossal-announces-worlds-first-de-extinction-birth-of-dire-wolves/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.

Dalén, Love et al. "Deep-time paleogenomics and the limits of DNA survival." Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 382,6666 (2023): 48-53.

doi:10.1126/science.adh7943

"Dire Wolf." Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences, Colossal, colossal.com/direwolf/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.

Gedman, Gregory L., and Et al. "On the ancestry and evolution of the extinct dire wolf." bioRxiv, doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.09.647074.

Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.