So… they edited genes of extant Grey Wolf to make individuals that resembles Dire Wolf (but they do not have Dire wolf genes).
I wonder why they are claiming that they brought back the extinct species.
The ones they created can’t be called Dire Wolf taxonomically…
While this kind of research gives hope to conservation, I think they are exaggerating it too much, because they are yet to recover the actual species.
If they ended up getting reintroduced into the wild someday, how should we treat them?
I believe that they will be treated as badly as every other wolf . I’m not sure they’ve thought much into what impact dire wolves would have on the environment.
“Just because you can, does not mean that you should.”
In general, I find this type of work to be
a) Hopelessly exaggerated in the company’s materials and some of the coverage of it.
b) A waste of time and money
c) Undermining conservation by giving the impression that we can fix the world by just deextinctioning things at some nebulous future point.
If some rich people want to waste their money and exaggerate their achievements, I guess that’s nothing new, but I wish I didn’t have to look at the headlines.
Bringing back extinct species sounds cool in theory, but in practicality this is a tremendous amount of money. I also don’t understand arguing that trying to recreate dire wolves would be good for conservation. @swampster sums it up pretty well:
Also,
I know that people would be terrified of them. Dire wolves are even bigger and stronger than gray wolves. It’s hard to persuade ranchers in areas where gray wolves are being re-introduced that they can still raise livestock safely. It would be even harder to persuade anyone living near where these dire wolves would be introduced that they would be safe.
I think this is the biggest reason why I don’t like it. They are using the word de-extinction which is absolutely not true. Extinction is not reversible (yet) and their claims and the news coverage completely misleads the audience.
I was surely shocked when I discovered this. But, it would have to be considered a Canis lupus hybrid, so it is kind of misleading. They should be able to resurrect multiple species in the future, if that is to the good of the world.
Tweaking a few genes doesn’t turn a gray wolf into a dire wolf just as tweaking the spelling and amping up the inflections doesn’t turn a Trump executive order into an Anglo-Saxon epic poem.
It never seems a good idea to introduce anything that didn’t evolve in the current era and place. Humans have tried to monkey with the ecosystem only to have dire (ha ha) consequences.
They will not be able to introduce these so called “dire wolves” anywhere near populations of grey wolves. As these “dire wolves” are just GMO grey wolves, that will most likely mix and mate with regular grey wolves.
To come back to the question of OP: The best way to treat GMO grey wolves (Colossal dire wolves) should be obvious: Keep captive for entertainment, never ever release in the wild.
In case they get get released anyway, the best case would be the GMO alleles will Mendel out, in the worst case the GMO alleles would spread in the wild wolve populations…
Yes, the worst case is something to worry about. There was also something recently about creating a wooly mammoth by using wooly mouse and elephant genes. Are we headed to a world of strange mutant creatures created in labs for the sheer thrill of mad scientists?
It’s a serial entrepeneur behind this company, probably a friend of Musk. Good show, great promises … raising funds and doing a few PR gigs and then selling might be the plan. As in his former companies?
I don’t see any “mad scientists” involved, but have certainly limited information here. Well 70 year old George McDonald Church is a scientist and involved, according to wikipedia. Hope that doesn’t mean he is “mad” lol. Colossal Biosciences - Wikipedia
The thrill they are aiming for is the same thrill that kept Jurassic Park movies going… It’s an interesting idea to recreate extinct animals, It will get lots of PR because people want to talk about it and see these “extinct animals” alive… so it’s essentially a money printing maschine, as long as they are able to feed the illusion and keep the PR going.
I don’t really think that the other GMO animals the company promised: a hairy Indian elephant, a dog sized quoll and a duck sized domestic pigeon, will have any conservation value.
Yes the hairy Indian elephants will look great in their enclosure in the snow! They won’t be mammouth though and will likely be dependent on feeding, as they are not adapted to an arctic diet. So they won’t restore any ecosystem either, but make for a nice Ice age park addition. They are working with George R. R. Martin, so the story-telling and the show we are expecting will be epic! George R. R. Martin - Wikipedia
They only changed 20 genes, and Dire Wolves weren’t even closely related to Gray Wolves. In other words, Colossal is basically lying about what they did here.