In these days the news has made a lot that, and we report it as it was announced by the Colossal Biosciences company, “We have de-extinct enoconio”or “terrible wolf” if you prefer the translation of its English name-or again, “meta-lupo”, just like those of game of Thrones, whose appearance is inspired by this extinct relative of the wolf. Here you can find the page of the Colossal website that announces the news and explain in detail how this de-astinction project works. But is it really the correct term to use? Let’s try to clarify some clarity.
De-extinction or “trick”? As we have already documented you on these pages, Colossal Biosciences is not new to these bombastic announcements: for years she has been working to de-establish the woolly mammoth, and recently claims to have taken a first step in this direction thanks to the creation of the “woolly”. The method applied to these two species is the same also used for ENOCIONE, a canide extinct about 10,000 years ago It is more about the jackals than of dogs and wolves, and it is a method that is a half deception.
Partial DNA. In fact, “reconstructing” from scratch an extinct species is almost impossible: the entire DNA of the animal would be neededthat almost never is preserved intact for tens of thousands of years. In the case of enocono, the sequences that we have reconstructed are reasonably complete, but not 100%. And on the other hand, even having complete sequences, the fact remains that We do not have living specimens available: At least the gestation of the de-extinct animal must be entrusted to a similar and still existing species.
Colossal Biosciences, therefore, is trying another path: identifying those genes that directly affect the “macro” characteristics of an animal, those visible such as the shape of the skull, the size of the body or the folness of the fur. In this way, which Colossal calls “functional de-astmination”, “copies” are created externally very similar to the originalin the hope that this will bring behind the same adaptations of the extinct species.
The road is still long. The result of the operation is therefore not a de-estination: in the case of enocono, Colossal has Used gray wolves as a base, making about twenty changes to 14 genes related to the phenotype of animals (and therefore to their external appearance). Colossal’s meta-flops, therefore, are not true enfoons: they are gray wolves with some genetic changes-not a meta-lupi, but a cosplayer of meta-lupi.
The same method, on the other hand, has already been used to create the wool mouseand it is the basis of the efforts of functional de-extinction also of the mammoth and other species (Tigre della Tasmania, Dodo …).
Method of which, among other things, we do not yet know the details: Colossal Biosciences has announced the company, but He has not yet published any study studynot even in the pre-print phase. For now, therefore, let’s take the news for what it is: We have gray wolves that surface superficially resemble Eocionibut which still remain gray wolves. The road to really bring out extinct species to life is still long – if you ever really could go along it.
