“The terrible wolf” was resurrected. Will mammoths and dinosaurs come back to earth?

On Monday, the American company Colossal Biosciences said that he managed to resurrect a scary wolf (Aenocyon Dirus), which was extinct about 12.5 thousand years ago. To achieve this, researchers analyzed the preserved genetic material of the prehistoric predator, and then introduced the necessary changes to the cells taken from the gray wolf. Ultimately, three individuals have survived the features typical of scary wolves, which are about 20 percent larger than gray cousins ​​of the same age, and their fur has a different color and texture.

Professor Szymon Drobniak from the Faculty of Biology at the Jagiellonian University pointed out that in the case of the achievements of Colossal Biosciences, no cloning process was carried out.

– The bottom of the wolf was not used directly, it was pulled out of very old remains, mainly from the teeth, from the bone, decoded and on its basis the bottom of the gray wolf was prescribed, which is very similar to this extinct scary wolf. And this modified DNA was used for cloning. In fact, the instructions for building a wolf, the one that lives today, so that he develops in this terrible wolf – explained Drobniak in an interview with “Facts of TVN”. – Different species of mammals, including, for example, a gray wolf today living and a terrible wolf, differ in a very, very small extent. Scientists have found that it is really enough to modify and prescribe some of the genes that occur in a wolf living today, so that they correspond to those who had a terrible wolf – said the biologist.

>>> Read more: They claim to recreate the extinct species

A terrible wolf is not the first species that scientists undertake. Among the Colossal Biosciences projects is also the resurrection of the Italian mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Dodo Dront (Raphus cucullatus) or Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cinnocephalus) – animals that in our consciousness have become somehow symbols of extinction.

According to the method adopted by Colossal Biosciences, “reborn” individuals are not genetically identical to extinct – this effect can only be obtained by using the original DNA. Instead, the animals are to keep the key features of appearance and play the same role in the ecosystem, which their cousins ​​died down.

– Currently, it is not possible to recreate an animal that would be one hundred percent identical – genetically, physiologically, behavioral – with a species that has become extinct – she passed in 2015 in an interview with Yale University Dr. Beth Shapiro, currently working for Colossal Biosciences. – We want to restore the basic features of an extinct species to supplement the missing ecological interactions in ecosystems.

Similar assumptions are based on “Tauros Project”, run by European organizations Rewilding Europe and Grazelands Rewilding. Its purpose is to introduce Tauros to the environment, i.e. the descendants of Turów (Bos primigenius), which once prevailed in the forests of the Old Continent. Tauros were created as a result of selective crucifixion of cattle with features closest to the turns.

In the face of Colossal Biosciences, there are questions about whether such a method will resurrect other extinct species, such as dinosaurs, for example.

– This is a very common question. In the case of a terrible wolf, we are talking about a species that has been brought back to life after about ten or thousands of years. Dinosaurs are no longer 65 million with us. The material we have available in their case is much less complete, so it probably won't be possible – explained Drobniak.

When the bird or mammoth is restored to life, “the company is on a very good way to do it.”

– However, the question arises whether they should do this, despite the fact that this achievement seems very spectacular. There are many voices that we are really playing a little in God, i.e. we try to interfere in something that may not take place – the expert said. – These species were extinct for a reason and restoring them to life, especially when we condemn them to live in a herd of only a few individuals, in such loneliness [wydaje się dyskusyjne – przyp. red.]. Maybe we should focus on saving those species that still exist and which we can protect against extinction – he added.

As an example, Drobniak pointed out a project to revive the red wolf population, which is on the edge of the extinction and the company Colossal Biosciences tries to increase its genetic diversity by similar methods.

– Scientists from Colossal Biosciences do not exclude the introduction of such species restored to life into the wild environment. Remember that the terrible wolf became extinct because he ended up the food. He was specialized in hunting for a great prehistoric megafauna, such as mammoths or other big mammals, which are no longer there. If we introduced a terrible wolf into the natural environment, he would probably not cope – the expert explained.

He added that his relative, or gray wolf, is doing much better thanks to various sources of food. Drobniak also pointed out that our environment is currently different than the one that was experienced by extinct species.

– Probably in some parks or controlled places they will be able to exist, but in a wild environment at the moment it is unlikely – the expert admitted.

Can restore species that are extinct, can bring any threats? As the expert admitted, at the moment we do not have enough data to say.

– Unfortunately, we have many examples of human actions that were directed to interference in nature, introducing somewhere a species that was to get rid of a pest, which suddenly spread and began to be an invasive species. […] It may turn out that introducing them later to the environment will result in either the appearance of some super -invasive species, or disorder of some basic ecological processes – he admitted.

The idea of ​​”reversing extinction” has many supporters. They point out that the restoration of the lost species – even partial – can have a beneficial effect on ecosystems, weakened by anthropogenic climate change and pollution. During research on the genome of extinct species, researchers also gain insight into the problems of their living cousins. Working on the “revival” of hairy mammoths, scientists from Colossal Biosciences helped to develop a vaccine that protects young African elephants from a lethal Herpesvirus to them.

There are some issues that should be taken into account. As explained in an interview with the Yale E360 University portal Ronald Goder from “Tauros Project”, species are dynamic life forms that evolve in time and on different continents – they cannot be cut and pasted into an existing animal. In addition, the problem may occur when the animal is introduced into the ecosystem. The “reborn” species should coexist with animals living in it, not replace them.