Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm defends his ‘de-extinct’ dire wolf

This week, genomics and biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences unveiled genetically engineered canines—named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—that it calls dire wolves, a species of wolf that went extinct 13,000 years ago. The company, which has raised $437 million from investors and is valued at $10.2 billion, created the animals by editing the DNA of existing gray wolf cells to include traits from long-extinct dire wolves (like fluffy white fur and big size). It then developed embryos using cloning technology and implanted them into a female dog. Critics immediately disagreed with Colossal’s de-extinction claim, saying that the creatures, which were incubated and birthed by a large female dog, are closer to genetically modified designer dogs. 

Colossal’s cofounder and CEO Ben Lamm is now pushing back.

“It’s a stupid argument,” Lamm said in an interview with the Most Innovative Companies podcast this week when asked about the criticism. “We’ve said from day one that we are going to do a lot of computational analysis and then identify the core genes that make a mammoth or a dire wolf or a dodo and engineer them back into its closest living relatives.”

At the heart of the issue is the question of how to define de-extinction. “There are about 11 different ways to classify a species,” Lamm said. “Our definition of de-extinction is on our website. It explains that there’s a thing called functional de-extinction. The IUCN, which is like the Species Council for the world, five years ago, put out a statement saying that de-extinction means developing proxies.” Proxies, he explains, are not exact replicas of an extinct species, but come very close genetically.

On Thursday, Colossal submitted a study that it sponsored for peer review. The research claims that new information about genomics supports Colossal’s argument about the wolves’ classification. The paper builds on that previous study, published in Nature, and presents further evidence that dire wolves are considered to have a distinct evolutionary lineage from wolves. It lays out the defining characteristics that resulted in the dire wolf being considered a separate species. Because Colossal’s canines exhibit nearly all of those characteristics, the company argues that the animals should be classified as such.

In the interview with Fast Company, Lamm also explained that the company’s dire wolves will be raised with top-notch veterinary care on a 2,000-acre reserve. The dog that mothered them has been made available to adopt through an anonymous program. As the company pushes forward on its larger project of bringing back extinct species, Lamm hopes to rewild all of its creations in their natural habitats. (He does not plan on making money from Colossal’s clones.)

Some conservationists have argued that the de-extinction of animals may make people lose interest in preserving species that are near extinction. Lamm hit back at that critique, pointing out that the company makes some of its technologies available free to conservation groups and academic partners. To make money, the company has spun out an AI-based software platform, Form Bio, which helps scientists manage complicated data sets. Colossal plans to spin out more companies to license the research tools it develops.

Lamm pointed out that the company is using its technology for conservation. At the same time as the dire wolves were announced, Colossal revealed that it had cloned four red wolves that will be able to join the 15 left on earth. “The red wolf project, to me, is as magical as the dire wolf,” Lamm said.

Though some critics have argued that the company is more focused on attention-grabbing stunts than actual research, Lamm said those goals are not incompatible, and that the company is merely trying to showcase its work. “Right now, if we do nothing, we’re gonna lose up to 50% of all biodiversity between now and 2050,” he said. “We need to do things that are more important and more radical. You can build thoughtful yet disruptive technologies at the same time.”

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