In real life, Dire Wolves, resurrected from the dead

[Yaarel]

Forget BlueSky: Look for any biologist not affiliated with Colossal Bioscience.

The New Scientist article says that the corporation Colossal sequenced the complete genome of the Dire Wolf and will release it to the public.

Whether the puppies match this genome will determine if they are Dire Wolves.

The article notes, Dire Wolf and Grey Wolf havent had a common ancestor in 6 million years. That would imply significant genetic developments even if "99.5%" of the DNA is identical.

"It all comes down to how you define species". But if the DNA proves to be the same (within the genetic diversity of the species) then it is the same species.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The New Scientist article says that the corporation Colossal sequenced the complete genome of the Dire Wolf and will release it to the public.

No, they say that Colossal claims they have. But they also wouldn't answer New Scientist questions.

"It all comes down to how you define species".

The moment a company wants to say that basic scientific terms are now up for debate, your instinct shouldn't be to accept anything else that comes out of their mouth.

Do not, under any circumstances, give these people your money. You would be better off with Bernie Madoff. At least the first people made money with his Ponzi scheme.

 

[Yaarel]

No, they say that Colossal claims they have. But they also wouldn't answer New Scientist questions.

The moment a company wants to say that basic scientific terms are now up for debate, your instinct shouldn't be to accept anything else that comes out of their mouth.

Do not, under any circumstances, give these people your money. You would be better off with Bernie Madoff. At least the first people made money with his Ponzi scheme.

To be fair, Colossal does seem to taking a cosmetic "morphological" approach to genetic edits. Such as modifying genes that make the fur coat lighter.

But once the Dire Wolf genome is available to the public for scrutiny, it will be easy enough to compare the DNA to see how fully the Dire Wolf has returned to life.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But once the Dire Wolf genome is available to the public for scrutiny, it will be easy enough to compare the DNA to see how fully the Dire Wolf has returned to life.

I look forward to them releasing this data to be peer reviewed on the 12th of Never.

 

[Mistwell]

Not what's actually happening, for the record. Time Magazine should be deeply embarrassed for taking PR puffery and turning into a front page story on something that's categorically untrue.

A gray wolf has given birth to a genetically modified wolf.

I think your opinion is wrong, this is in fact being done with expert Biologists in the field, and you depending on rando person who claims to be a biologist on BlueSky is not sound scientific evidence. The provable biologists disagree with you.

 

[Yaarel]

@Whizbang Dustyboots, @Mistwell

The corporation Colossal is making a scientific claim. It cannot be science unless other scientists can verify it. It depends on what the genome of the Dire Wolf looks like, so other scientists can run DNA tests to compare.

 

[Yaarel]

All in all, this is why the Owlbear needs to be the Beast creature type.

 

[Charlaquin]

"It all comes down to how you define species". But if the DNA proves to be the same (within the genetic diversity of the species) then it is the same species.

Any definition of species that allows animals of different Genus to be considered the same species is not a useful definition.

 

[grankless]

Any definition of species that allows animals of different Genus to be considered the same species is not a useful definition.

Just some of that Epic Awesomesauce I Love Science!!! facebook-tier "science fandom" where one decides to reject basic facts and fall in love with PR campaigns.

 

[Yaarel]

Any definition of species that allows animals of different Genus to be considered the same species is not a useful definition.

No one is saying that in the articles.

If the DNA is the prehistoric Dire Wolf, then the genus of the puppies is Aenocyon , not Canis.