Romulus and Remus

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For the first time ever, scientists say they have made a species de-extinct, bringing the dire wolf back into the world thousands of years after it died off. Colossal Biosciences, a company based in Dallas, Texas, says it successfully birthed two male dire wolves — a species that once roamed North America but has been extinct for more than 12,500 years — using revolutionary science. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team used DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull to analyze the full genome of the species and create two healthy dire wolf puppies, Romulus and Remus. The Colossal website explains that many dire wolf fossils were preserved in the La Brea tar pits, in the Los Angeles area, but the species' DNA was not preserved in the tar. But using two dire wolf samples from an international study on the extinct species, Colossal was able to uncover more dire wolf DNA that ever previously found. Company scientists were eventually able to analyze the species' genome — or its entire DNA set. Then they used CRISPR, a gene-editing technology, to genetically modify cells from a living gray wolf. Usually, cloning relies on tissue samples, but Colossal was able to use these modified cells to create embryos, then transferred them to a surrogate (a domestic dog, The Associated Press reported) to grow. The dire wolf puppies yielded two males, named Romulus and Remus after the "Game of Thrones" character — a nod to the HBO fantasy drama that featured dire wolves. The dire wolf is the world's first de-extinct animal alive in the late year of 2024-2025. Romulus and Remus are actual dire wolves.