28K views · 456 reactions | From CRISPR gene editing breakthroughs to...

This is Romulus and Remus, identical twins created by the genetics startup Colossal Biosciences. They are, in the words of the company’s chief animal officer, “the first dire-wolf cubs in 12,000 years.” To make them, Colossal harvested DNA from a tooth thought to be about 13,000 years old and a skull estimated to be more than 70,000 years old. Scientists then compared that DNA with DNA sequences from gray-wolf cell lines. The gray wolf is the dire wolf’s closest living relative—they share 99.5 p