(Ken Ham) — The “return of the dire wolf” has been all over headlines and social media as reporters claim the species is back from the dead and the wolf’s howl is the first heard in “over 10,000 years.” How should biblical creationists view this intriguing story?
Well, first, let’s look at what exactly the company behind these new pups, Colossal Biosciences, actually did. They extracted DNA from the blood of a gray wolf (a member of the same kind, the canid or dog kind, as the dire wolf) and then rewrote parts of the genetic code to match the sequence extracted from dire wolf fossils. The rewrites included 20 edits on 14 different genes which gave rise to a variety of morphological differences, including:
- White hair
- Larger size (the five-month-old pups already weigh 80 pounds)
- More powerful shoulders
- Wider head
- Larger teeth and jaws
- More muscular legs
- And vocalizations such as howling and whining
They then created embryos, implanting some of them in domestic dog surrogates who then birthed the pups via C-section: two boys, Romulus and Remus, and one girl, Khaleesi. Researchers claim the birth of these pups means they are “effectively for the first time de-extincting a line of beasts whose live gene pool long ago vanished.” In the evolutionary worldview, this extinction took place some 10,000 years ago at the end of the supposed last ice age.
Now, in a biblical worldview, dire wolves didn’t live that long ago. They likely went extinct sometime after the post-flood ice age less than 4,000 years ago. Many creatures—including the woolly mammoth that Colossal is working to bring back (apparently they’ve edited 25 of the 85 genes necessary and are “on track” to implant embryos in elephant wombs by late 2026)—went extinct after climate conditions wildly changed after the ice age ended and the glaciers retreated to their current location.
And gray wolves and dire wolves belong to the same kind, the dog kind. They’re both varieties that descended from the two representatives of their kind that went aboard the ark. Because of the genetic diversity God created in the kinds he made, we see variety within a kind and many species of dogs were produced after the flood.
Now are dire wolves really back? No, not really. These aren’t dire wolves, they’re what we could call “GMO gray wolves.” They’ve been tweaked to have some of the features scientists think the iconic ice age predator had, but they aren’t true dire wolves as many, many more differences would genetically separate the two species. The story is definitely overhyped! But it is still a fascinating scientific advancement that has important ramifications for future conservation efforts (for example, this same company is working to save endangered red wolves and hopes their emerging technology can be used to help save other species).
As humans, we’ve been given dominion over creation and we’re to care for it, wisely stewarding creation for God’s glory. That includes careful research into the delicate balance of ecosystems before releasing—or sort of rereleasing—new species (there are currently no plans to release the “dire wolves” into the wild). It will be interesting to see how this technology is used—we hope it will be used with wisdom and care for God’s creation.
