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Comment and Society

Why claims about 'resurrecting' dire wolves are the tip of the iceberg

Colossal Biosciences’s "de-extinction" news is just the latest in a slew of eyebrow-raising claims by privately funded researchers. Is the bar for belief lower when those making the claims have a lot of money, wonders Jonathan R. Goodman

By Jonathan R. Goodman

17 April 2025

A company called Colossal Biosciences says it has revived an extinct species ? the dire wolf. ?On October 1, 2024, for the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction

Colossal Biosciences says it has revived the dire wolf

Colossal Biosciences

“I trust people who are wealthy,” said a participant in a focus group that a colleague and I recently ran to understand how people place trust. This was, to me, a surprising response – but on reflection, and following reactions to recent headlines, I think it speaks to something real about the priorities people have today.

News last week that the genetic-engineering start-up Colossal Biosciences had “resurrected” the long-extinct dire wolf is evidence of this trend. The private company, which is valued at over $10 billion, claims that, after…

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