Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based genetic engineering and biotech company has claimed to have successfully engineered direwolf like pups, named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi with CRISPR technology.
Colossal has reportedly used CRISPR to edit the DNA of gray wolf, creating dire wolf-like pups Romulus and Remus, born October 1, 2024, despite direwolves being extinct for over 10,000 years.
SOUND ON. You’re hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years. Meet Romulus and Remus—the world’s first de-extinct animals, born on October 1, 2024.
— Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) April 7, 2025
The dire wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. These two wolves were brought back from extinction using… pic.twitter.com/wY4rdOVFRH
Another pup named Khaleesi was announced to have been born on 31 January this year.
The dire wolf genome was reconstructed from ancient DNA in fossils dating back 11,500 and 72,000 years, but the pups are not pure dire wolves, but, technically speaking, gray wolves with some dire wolf genes pasted into their DNA.
The pups live in a 2,000-acre preserve. Their birth is a milestone in genetic engineering and de-extinction tech. Colossal Biosciences says they are working to de-extinct other animals, like the Tasmanian tiger, woolly mammoth and dodo bird too.
Elon Musk has shared an AI-generated image of the wolf pups sitting on the fictional Iron Throne from the series Game of Thrones, where direwolves played crucial characters in the plot.
