A trio of dire wolves have been born, "de-extincting" the legendary animal

It feels like a bit of a joke but it's the truth, dire wolves are once again a reality. The American Colossal Biosciences, known as the only "de-extinction" company in the world, has managed to successfully birth three dire wolf pups. The pups are known as Romulus and Remus (the two males) and Khaleesi (a female), and are regarded as a "revolutionary milestone of scientific progress" and "a critical step on the pathway to the de-extinction of other target species."

As noted by Business Wire, the animals were birthed by creating 20 germline edits, with 15 edits taken from ancient gene variants that have not existed in over 12,000 years.

The pups are set to be housed in a 2,000+ acre ecological preserve in the United States, where 10 carers are being employed full-time to care for the creatures. The preserve is built to offer several "specialised engagement zones and habit types" and is bordered by a 10-foot tall fence with additional perimeter security measures in place to both protect the animals and ensure they don't escape.

Speaking about the dire wolves, CEO Ben Lamm stated: "This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works. Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation."

Colossal Biosciences hasn't just birthed these dire wolves, the company also announced the arrival of two litters of cloned red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf in the world, as part of its expanding conservation efforts.

Colossal Biosciences also recently introduced the world to the woolly mouse.