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De-extinction and conservation The company hopes the technologies that created the dire wolf can directly help endangered animals as well. Colossal said on Monday it has produced two litters of cloned red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf species, using a new, less invasive approach to cloning developed during the dire wolf research. safepal

“The red wolf… is a great example of a species that’s hindered by a lack of genetic diversity. What what we could do, is begin to use this technology to reintroduce founders into a population in a way that would enhance genetic diversity, the robustness, the adaptability of a recovery program,” James said.

Colossal is correct to argue that their technology is suitable to contribute to conservation of threatened species, said Michael Knapp, an associate professor in the department of anatomy at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Other potential uses include “editing harmful mutations out of the populations of threatened species and introducing traits that may help rare species adapt to environmental change,” Knapp said.

“On the other hand, the technology still has its limitations,” he added. “Genes that may be introduced to give a species more fur, might have other and unwanted functions as well. Also, often not only the species, but the ecosystems they used to live in are extinct.”

Many critics of de-extinction argue that the huge sums of money invested in the project could be better spent elsewhere — and that raising and breeding the hybrid creatures could imperil living animals used as surrogates. However, Christopher Preston, a professor of environmental philosophy at the University of Montana, said Colossal appears to be paying attention to animal welfare issues, noting the size of the facility and support from the American Humane Society.

“Colossal have taken thoughtful precautions to screen against any unintended genetic consequences of their edits, eliminating risky edits known to be associated with poor outcomes,” he added.

But he said it’s hard to imagine the dire wolves playing a role in an ecosystem, an outcome the company has said is the ultimate goal of its efforts to create genetically engineered mammoth-elephants.

“In states like Montana, we are currently having trouble keeping a healthy population of gray wolves on the land in the face of amped up political opposition,” Preston said. “It is hard to imagine dire wolves ever being released and taking up an ecological role. So, I think it is important to ask what role the new animals will serve.”