Ben Lamm’s Colossal Achievement: Dire Wolf Revival Sets New Record in Genetic Engineering

In a milestone that pushes the boundaries of genetic science, Colossal Biosciences has successfully engineered the return of an apex predator that vanished from Earth approximately 12,000 years ago. The Dallas-based biotech company, led by CEO Ben Lamm, announced on April 7, 2025, that it has produced three living dire wolf pups through advanced genetic engineering—marking not only the world’s first true de-extinction event but also setting a new record for precision genetic editing.

Record-Breaking Genetic Engineering

The dire wolf project achieved something unprecedented in the field of genetic engineering: 20 precise genetic edits were successfully incorporated into living, healthy animals. This represents the highest number of deliberate genome edits in any animal to date, significantly surpassing Colossal’s previous achievement of 8 edits in their “woolly mouse” prototype.

Dr. George Church, Harvard geneticist and Colossal co-founder, emphasized the significance of this technical milestone: “This result proves that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works. Delivering 20 precise edits in a healthy animal is the largest number of precise genomic edits in a vertebrate so far—a capability that is growing exponentially.”

The sheer number of genetic modifications required demonstrates the complexity of reconstructing an extinct species. Colossal’s scientists identified 14 key genes containing 20 distinct genetic variants that differentiate dire wolves from their closest living relatives, gray wolves. These included genes influencing the dire wolf’s larger size, more muscular build, wider skull, bigger teeth, distinctive coat color, and even its unique vocalizations.

Remarkably, all of these genetic modifications have successfully expressed in the three dire wolf pups—named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi. The males were born in October 2024, and the female in January 2025. Now approximately 6 months and 3 months old respectively, they display the physical characteristics and wild behavior patterns expected of dire wolves.

The Technical Process: How Lamm’s Team Did It

The resurrection of the dire wolf required a sophisticated multi-step approach that began with ancient DNA. Colossal’s scientists obtained genetic material from dire wolf fossils, including a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull. From these ancient remains, they sequenced and reconstructed the dire wolf genome.

Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, the team then modified living cells from modern gray wolves to carry the dire wolf genetic variants. Rather than invasively harvesting tissue, scientists drew blood from living gray wolves and isolated endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). They applied CRISPR editing to precisely rewrite the DNA at the 14 target genes to install the 20 dire wolf variants.

The modified cells were used to create embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer—removing the nucleus from dog egg cells and replacing it with the nucleus of an edited cell. These reconstructed embryos were implanted into surrogate mother dogs (hound mixes) for gestation.

Colossal transferred a total of 45 edited embryos into two surrogate dogs in the first attempt. Two pregnancies took hold, leading to the birth of Romulus and Remus after approximately 65 days of gestation. A few months later, a third surrogate carried another batch of edited embryos, resulting in the birth of Khaleesi. All three pups were delivered via scheduled cesarean section.

Notably, Colossal reported no miscarriages or stillbirths during these trials, indicating an exceptional success rate for such pioneering work—another technical achievement that sets new standards for reproductive technologies in conservation.

Ben Lamm’s Vision Realized

For Colossal CEO Ben Lamm, the dire wolf resurrection represents the fulfillment of the company’s founding mission. Established in 2021 with the ambitious tagline of making “extinction optional,” Colossal has now delivered on a promise that many considered impossible.

“I could not be more proud of the team,” Lamm stated. “This massive milestone is the first of many… Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”

Under Lamm’s leadership, Colossal has assembled a world-class scientific team and raised substantial funding to pursue its ambitious goals. In January 2025, even before the wolf announcement, Colossal secured an additional $200 million in financing to accelerate its de-extinction projects. The successful dire wolf de-extinction is likely to attract further investment and support.

From Private Sector Innovation to Conservation Impact

While headquartered in Dallas and operating as a private company, Colossal has positioned its work as serving the broader public interest in biodiversity conservation. The company emphasizes that the technologies developed for de-extinction projects have immediate applications for endangered species preservation.

Alongside the dire wolf announcement, Colossal revealed it had successfully cloned two litters of critically endangered red wolves (Canis rufus), producing four healthy pups using the same “non-invasive blood cloning” approach developed for the dire wolf work. With only a handful of red wolves remaining in the wild, this cloning breakthrough could significantly bolster recovery efforts.

“The same technologies that created the dire wolf can directly help save a variety of other endangered animals as well. This is an extraordinary technological leap for both science and conservation,” stated Dr. Christopher Mason, a Colossal scientific advisor.

The gene-editing toolkit refined through the dire wolf project is also being applied to other conservation challenges. Colossal scientists are working with the pink pigeon, a bird species suffering from severe genetic bottlenecks, to introduce greater genetic diversity into embryos through edited primordial germ cells, potentially improving the species’ health and viability.

A Responsible Approach to Revolutionary Science

Critics of de-extinction often raise concerns about animal welfare and the responsible management of revived species. Colossal has preemptively addressed these concerns through its transparent and carefully monitored approach to the dire wolf pups’ care.

The pups currently reside on a 2,000+ acre secure expansive ecological preserve under continuous care and monitoring. The facility—certified by the American Humane Society—includes naturalistic habitats and on-site veterinary support to ensure the animals’ well-being.

Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., CEO of the American Humane Society, praised Colossal for its high standards of animal welfare: “Colossal has achieved American Humane Certification for their extensive animal welfare program and is a shining example of excellence in humane care. The technology they are pursuing may be the key to reversing the sixth mass extinction and making extinction events a thing of the past.”

Colossal’s transparent approach to care, including an interactive “dire wolf development tracker,” aims to reassure the public that the revived wolves are being ethically and safely integrated into the modern world.

Future Horizons: What’s Next for Colossal

The successful resurrection of the dire wolf validates Colossal’s de-extinction platform and suggests that more ambitious targets are within reach. The company is already applying similar methods to its other headline projects, aiming to reintroduce the woolly mammoth by 2028 and to revive the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) and dodo thereafter.

In early 2025, Colossal demonstrated progress on the mammoth project by creating 38 “woolly mice”—laboratory mice edited with mammoth genes to grow shaggy coats. The company plans to attempt an elephant pregnancy with a mammoth-variant embryo by 2026.

The dire wolf’s successful revival, with even more genetic edits than previous projects, suggests that these timelines might indeed be feasible. If Colossal continues its current rate of progress, we may see additional de-extinction breakthroughs in the coming years.

Industry Implications: A New Biotech Frontier

The dire wolf resurrection positions Colossal at the forefront of a potentially transformative field in biotechnology. The company has effectively demonstrated capabilities that could open new research and commercial avenues in genetics, reproduction, and conservation.

While de-extinction captures headlines, the underlying technologies—advanced genomics, precise gene editing, and synthetic biology—could ripple far beyond the lab and into everyday applications.

From disease-resistant livestock to restoring genetic diversity in endangered populations, the same innovations that brought back the dire wolf may soon play a critical role in addressing biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and even human health challenges. Investors and scientists alike are beginning to view de-extinction not just as a scientific curiosity, but as a proving ground for tools that will define the next era of biotech.

A Defining Moment for Ben Lamm and Colossal

For Ben Lamm, this achievement marks a watershed moment—not just for Colossal, but for the field of synthetic biology at large. What was once the realm of science fiction is now a demonstrable reality. And with Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi healthy and thriving, Lamm’s vision of “extinction being optional” has moved from speculative ambition to operational science.

As Colossal looks to the future—with the mammoth, the thylacine, and the dodo waiting in the wings—the successful revival of the dire wolf signals that humanity may indeed be entering a new epoch: one in which our technological mastery can begin to repair what has been lost.

The age of de-extinction has officially begun.