New Hoax: Scientists Did Not Actually De-Extinct the Dire Wolf
- Marc-André Blais
- Apr 8
- 5 min read
I had to take a deep breath before writing this article.
The biotech industry has been buzzing with news of dire wolf revival, that this large, extinct species of wolf has been brought back to life. News articles, Linkedin posts, and even Tom Brady repeated the claim that scientists have “de-extinct”-ed the dire wolf.
I’m here to fact check this sensational news story from the perspective of a biotech scientist.
I’ll answer the burning question first:
Is the dire wolf back or not?
No, the dire wolf is not back.
Let’s dig into this to divide the truth from the mostly science fiction.
First, I have to break your heart a little. The dire wolf became extinct approximately 12,000 years ago and nothing has changed on that front. Dire wolves are not “de-extinct”, they have not been brought back genetically either.
But that just raises an even bigger question, if the white pups displayed in the news are not dire wolves then what are they? Well, they are quite simply grey wolves. The so-called dire wolf pups you see on your social media are actually genetically modified grey wolves, but grey wolves nonetheless.
The science behind the dire wolf de-extinct claim
Colossal Biosciences, the company behind this venture, claims to have genetically modified the grey wolves to the point that they can be considered dire wolves. Grey wolves were selected as the closest living relative to direwolves.
There are actually a number of problematic statements making up the claim:
Dire wolves went extinct 12k years ago.
The DNA found from dire wolf fossils represents only a short portion of the full genome.
The DNA collected is heavily damaged and essentially “corrupted” DNA.
What actually is the genetically modified “dire wolf”
The “dire wolf” created by Colossal Biosciences is a grey wolf that is genetically modified to look like a dire wolf.
The company identified 14 genes from the grey wolf and, based on analysis that is not yet scientifically published, claims to have made 20 edits to give the grey wolf the appearance of what a dire wolf may have looked like.
This is interesting, but it doesn’t really make sense. Remember dire wolves have been extinct for millenia. The best we have are fossils. Sure, you can extrapolate a lot from fossils, including the size and shape. You can also look at the fragmented DNA and make educated guesses.
But making 20 genetic edits that may be vaguely guided by a genetic analysis of low quality DNA and calling it a dire wolf is a wild claim. Colossal claims that five of those were related to the fur color, so that only leaves 15 edits for the rest. A very small amount when you consider that wolves have over 19,000 genes.
Second fact check: is the grey wolf the closest living organism to the dire wolf?
There was another claim that the grey wolf is the closest living organism to the dire wolf, and therefore would make sense to use a grey wolf as a sort of “template”.
Although that was the previous understanding from comparing skeletons of wolves and dire wolves, it’s now estimated that their last common ancestor was likely around six million years ago, a similar time frame of human and chimpanzee evolution.
In fact, the current understanding is that dire wolves aren’t actually all that close to grey wolves, and likely… weren’t actually wolves at all. They are thought to belong to a very different genus of Aenocyon. The physical resemblances between them could be nothing more than convergent evolution.
So at very best, you have a vaguely genetically modified grey wolf which MAY superficially resemble our understanding of what a dire wolf may have looked like.
The science behind genetic editing is very real. The modification and production of a viable offspring is very much a technical feat. The genetic editing used CRISPR and really has major applications and I’d argue that this does represent advancements. It also looks like Colossal genuinely helped extract more of the dire wolf DNA from fossils, though this remains unpublished.
That being said, this development does not in fact mean that the dire wolf has been resurrected.
The marketing genius of dire wolf revival claims
The headline proclaiming the de-extinction of the 12,000 year old dire wolf species is marketing genius brought to you by Colossal Biosciences. Dire wolves first became extremely popular following the hit series Game of Thrones, which featured the fierce creature as the mascot of the house Stark.
Colossal Biosciences went as far as naming one of the pups Khaleesi, an ode to one of the most popular characters in the show.
From a business perspective, hype can be great. Hype attracts attention, and attention draws funding. And judging on the amount of “dire wolf brought back to life” headlines on Linkedin and reputed news channels, this campaign aced the vitality and hype test.
The timing is apt as well. The whole world is in danger of entering a global recession due to tariff wars — “feel-good” news featuring adorable, cuddly pups is certainly comforting.
Speaking of hype, the dire wolf resurrection claims wouldn’t be complete without AI. Although it is completely unexplained how exactly AI factors in, the buzzword was thrown in alongside headlines.
Those who’ve worked for years in biotech are trained to approach these wild claims with heavy skepticism. And in this case, skepticism is very justified. Hype is common in biotech.
Sometimes the hype is due to journalists amplifying real scientific discoveries without a full understanding. Other times, this is due to startups wanting to grab attention which is certainly the case here.
Bottom line: No, the dire wolf is not back from extinction
Sorry folks! The news of the dire wolf coming back from extinction is false.
The idea of bringing back dire wolves makes for great headlines, but it's not reality. What actually happened are what I would call “designer” grey wolves, not the revival of an extinct species.
Sensational claims like these spread quickly, so it’s worth taking a minute to dig deeper: check the original scientific paper (and in this case, there are none!), look for quotes from independent researchers, and ask whether the headline matches the actual findings. Journalists and readers both have a role in keeping science reporting honest.
Dire wolves may be extinct, but critical thinking doesn’t have to be.
