How de-extincting dire wolves and woolly mammoths may extend human life

Colossal Biosciences says it has created three genetically engineered dire wolf pups and is working toward reviving woolly mammoths, arguing de-extinction could help across environmental restoration, medicine, and evolutionary research. CEO Ben Lamm told CNBC at the CNBC AI Forum that comparisons to Jurassic Park are understandable but “miss the forest for the trees,” emphasizing conservation and human benefit models. Colossal used ancient DNA from dire wolf skull and tooth material tens of thousands of years old, then used AI models to reconstruct the genome and map it to the gray wolf. Embryos were created by editing cells from modern gray wolves, producing pups named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi. Lamm also discussed ongoing work involving the dodo, Tasmanian tiger, and moa.