For the first time in Earth's history, an American company called 'Colossal Biosciences' has announced that it has scientifically recreated a species that went extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago. It claims to have revived two males and one female of a white wolf category, known as 'dire wolves', through gene editing. Naturally, this has aroused curiosity beyond the scientific world, because the company doesn't see this as a stand-alone research project. Rather, it's part of a larger 'de-extinction' project that is bringing back many extinct species. DNA is being extracted from the bones and teeth of animals that lived thousands of years ago and brought back to life and to Earth. According to this project, within the next three years, the woolly mammoth, a creature known as the ancestor of the elephant, will be recreated. The plan also includes the recovery of the dodo bird and the Tasmanian tiger. In a few years, another version of the cinematic legend of ‘Jurassic Park’ will be released in the real world. The question naturally arises whether the return of ancient creatures like the dinosaurs in ‘Jurassic Park’ will not pose a threat to the world. The answer given by the ‘Colossal’ company is No. Moreover, they argue that their de-extinction project will be beneficial for the Earth’s environment and will significantly reduce problems, including the climate crisis. The claim that what was re-created is a dire wolf has also been questioned. The ‘Colossal’ scientists themselves have admitted that they cannot assert it as 100% true. It could be said that this is a grey wolf that looks like a dire wolf, created using the genetic material of a grey wolf that is not extinct.
However, there is another, even greater argument from the company. This is the argument mentioned above that ‘de-extinction’ will be beneficial for the environment. This is based on the observation that grazing by extinct species may help to reduce atmospheric temperatures by allowing grasslands, which do not absorb as much heat as trees, to grow denser. By conducting large-scale, potentially dangerous experiments based on this unsupported assumption, companies like Colossal are putting the Earth at risk. The real goal of the exaggerated news about the dire wolf is to organize world opinion in favour of half-baked views that cannot be called scientific and have not been verified by scientists. The motive behind this could be profiteering by exploiting scientific superstitions. ‘Colossal Biosciences’ is one of many startups working in this field. They exploit the loopholes in the ethics related to the field of biotechnology. The marketing strategy is evident in the external connection with Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, the white wolves in it, and the names of the wolf cubs. These are enough ingredients to attract investors. ‘Colossal’ itself had raised $200 million in investments and acquired $1 billion in assets by 2023; this year it reached $10 billion. At the same time, it has not been able to show any achievements to justify this ‘growth’. The claims about ‘Dire Wolf’ must be understood in this context.
This raises a big question: should the fate of the earth be left to the discretion of a few entrepreneurs? If biotechnology is used well, it can achieve many benefits for humans and nature, from health to biodiversity. Science can be used for good only when there is a sense of ethics along with profit. The news that Chinese scientist Ha Jiankui created human babies through ‘gene editing’ in 2018 using technology similar to that of the dire wolf had caused controversy in the scientific world itself. The reason was its morality and potential consequences. Global mechanisms are needed to ensure that such things are carried out with sufficient care and maturity. Scientific soundness and moral propriety should guide such experiments. Science is a divine gift to humanity as a whole. How it should be used is an ethical issue. Let bioethics guide biotechnology.
