"The researchers edited in a gene variant that's found in grey wolf populations that are physically large, rather than the variant found in the dire wolf genome."

Even wolf cloning is a marketing gimmick / slop now

"The researchers edited in a gene variant that's found in grey wolf populations that are physically large, rather than the variant found in the dire wolf genome."

Even wolf cloning is a marketing gimmick / slop now

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/de-extinction-company-announces-that-the-dire-wolf-is-back/

friendly neighborhood shitcaster / building @pinetree

Wait why didn't they just edit in the variant of the dire wolf genome?  What makes these dire wolves then?

Stay Curious // iixii // Lazer Technologies // Prev: CoinDesk, Roc Nation // based @basedevo

No idea, probably because it was less certain to have the appearance they wanted

What makes them "dire wolves" is that they look bigger and whiter than gray wolves (but they're actually just gmo gray wolves)

techno-optimist. dance music lover + founder of /campfire 🎧

ig: https://instagram.com/beatsbydownshift

It sounds like they did take select genes from the dire wolf genome and select genes from the gray wolf genome to solve for select traits and mitigate unknown unknowns 

Certainly still fascinating experimentation and it seems like it's a step in the direction of actually reproducing completely extinct animals

I don't think it's all spin but who knows

From the Ars Technica article:

"There were some cases where the variants found in the dire wolf were edited in. Without the full catalog of edits, it's impossible to tell how many of the 15 changes were dire wolf-specific. But it's clear that a significant amount of the new "dire wolf's" appearance is the product of using gene editing to achieve what might otherwise take years of selective breeding of existing gray wolf populations. Colossal's Ben Lamm told Ars that imaging of the animal's skeletal morphology to determine which species it resembles will occur during the pups' first annual exam."

I think not being able to know is by design -- otherwise, we might be underwhelmed

I don't think it's all spin but who knows 

https://warpcast.com/garrett/0x02bf8012