Overview
- Colossal Biosciences, which said Thursday the three animals are healthy and mature, identified the engineered wolves as Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi.
- The firm plans to create additional pups later this year to boost genetic diversity before allowing the group to breed on its own.
- Researchers used fossil DNA from a 72,000-year-old Idaho skull and a 13,000-year-old Ohio tooth to guide about 20 edits to gray wolf embryos.
- Edited cells went into dog egg cells and surrogate dogs carried the pregnancies to caesarean delivery at a secure facility.
- The wolves live on a 2,000-acre U.S. preserve under close care, as outside experts question their species status and warn about ecological risks from any large-scale release.