The creation of genetically modified grey wolves that are claimed to resemble extinct dire wolves has been criticised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Colossal Biosciences, a US company aiming to 鈥渄e-extinct鈥� several species with gene-editing technology, announced earlier this month that it had created three dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) by editing genes in grey wolf (Canis lupus) embryos.
A 鈥� wolves and their relatives 鈥� said the company鈥檚 effort isn鈥檛 in accord with set out by the IUCN in 2016.
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鈥淓diting the genome of a grey wolf to produce individuals that resemble an extinct species that has no ecological niche and that will not restore ecosystem function, does not follow the guiding principles on creating proxies of extinct species for conservation benefits put in place by the IUCN,鈥� said the statement.
The guiding principles state that animals resembling extinct ones should only be created if they will have benefits such as increasing ecosystem resilience. They also state that if living species can carry out the same ecological role, they should be preferred to recreating extinct species.
Colossal鈥檚 claims could also undermine conservation efforts by making people think extinct species can be revived, said the statement. 鈥淧resenting this technology as a ready-to-use conservation solution is premature, and risks diverting attention from the more urgent needs of ensuring functioning and healthy ecosystems.鈥�
鈥淎lready the administration in the US is the Endangered Species Act by arguing that all is well because we have the technology to recreate things,鈥� says at the University of Oxford, who is one of the 12 signatories of the IUCN statement.
The statement also emphatically rejects the claim that the genetically modified grey wolves can be described as dire wolves. 鈥淭he three animals produced by Colossal are not dire wolves,鈥� it said. 鈥淔irst, there is no evidence that the genetically modified animals are phenotypically distinct from the grey wolf and phenotypically resemble the dire wolf. Second, our knowledge of the behaviour, phenotype, and ecology is inherently limited because the dire wolf is extinct.鈥�
For instance, Sillero says there is some evidence that dire wolves had red coats. Colossal鈥檚 decision to make its wolves white is, he suspects, informed by the appearance of dire wolves in the Game of Thrones TV series. 鈥淚 think choosing the white coats was more for artistic effect than anything else.鈥�
But Colossal has made significant technological advances, the statement acknowledges. These technologies might aid conservation efforts by helping to eliminate harmful mutations in small populations of endangered animals or by giving them resistance to diseases, says Sillero.
At the time of publishing, Colossal hadn鈥檛 responded directly to New 杏吧原创鈥榮 questions about the expert group鈥檚 statement. However, the company did .
鈥淲e undertook the dire wolf project in full awareness of the IUCN鈥� Guiding Principles鈥� and aim to align our efforts with those recommendations,鈥� said the response. 鈥淣o de-extinction candidate perfectly satisfies all of the IUCN鈥� criteria.鈥�
鈥淔ar from undermining the urgency of efforts to conserve existing species, this project highlights the extraordinary effort needed to reverse such an extinction,鈥� it said.
鈥淲e acknowledge the [expert group]鈥檚 observation about genetic differences between our dire wolf proxies and the extinct Aenocyon dirus. As the IUCN guidelines recognize, 鈥榥one of the current pathways will result in a faithful replica of any extinct species鈥�.鈥�
