PREVIEW

'De-extincted' 'Dire Wolf' Pack Play Together For First Time. The world’s first so-called “de-extincted” ‘dire wolf’ pack has come together to play for the first time. The youngest member, Khaleesi, met her brothers Romulus and Remus for the first time - and the trio got on famously. During the initial meeting at a secure 2,000-acre site run by Colossal Biosciences, Romulus greeted his sister with cautious curiosity, while Remus proved more gentle and easy-going. Handlers say Khaleesi will now spend alternating one-on-one time with each brother to build trust, confidence and social bonds. The smaller Khaleesi played with her brothers, but also enjoyed hiding under a log pile when their enthusiasm became too much for her. The Texas-based company made headlines in April when it announced the birth of what it called “the world’s first successfully de-extincted animal” – the dire wolf, an iconic predator that disappeared some 12,000 years ago. However, some scientists questioned the description, noting that the animals are genetically modified grey wolves rather than true resurrected dire wolves, with a report in New Scientist concluding that the Colossal animals are “grey wolves with a few gene edits”. In a later interview with the magazine, Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro acknowledged: “It’s not possible to bring something back that is identical to a species that used to be alive”. “Our animals are grey wolves with 20 edits that are cloned. And we’ve said that from the very beginning. Colloquially, they’re calling them dire wolves and that makes people angry.”