Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
The Dire Wolf Is Back…Maybe
982 – The Dire Wolf Is Back…Maybe
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
Three new babies have gotten a lot of attention – which happens when you attempt to bring back the dead!
Colossal Biosciences is a biotech company that has recreated the extinct dire wolf and cloned three puppies. The company’s mission is the de-extinction of megafauna.
According to the World Animal Foundation, half of all animal species on Earth could become extinct by two thousand fifty.
The company’s solution to this loss of biodiversity is to use advanced gene editing to rebuild or preserve DNA and genomes of extinct animals, ensuring they can thrive while facing climate change, dwindling resources, disease, and human interference.
In bringing back the dire wolf, which went extinct thirteen thousand years ago, the company sequenced the dire wolf’s complete DNA from fossils.
That was compared to its closest living cousins, the physically smaller gray wolf. Next, using CRISPR technology, they edited the gray wolf’s genome to change its facial features, coat characteristics, and body size to represent the ancient dire wolf.
Those cells were cloned and fertilized in vitro to produce embryos that were implanted in surrogate dog mothers to produce the three hybrid puppies. Critics charge correctly that these are not dire wolves but a grey wolf with several dire wolf genes. So these are not true de-extinctions.
But they are innovative synthetic creations and could pave the way for recreating the real thing. It would be a Herculean task, but may one day help preserve the animals we have left.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast service.
