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American entrepreneur Ben Lamm’s biotechnology and genetic engineering company, Colossal Biosciences, recently revealed that it has resurrected the previously extinct species, the dire wolf. “De-extinction technologies” have been used to successfully give birth to three dire wolf puppies, Lamm’s press release stated on April 7, 2025.
“Our team took DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation,” the release shared.
The birth of the dire wolf came after Colossal Biosciences revealed that it had genetically engineered the woolly mouse last month. According to Ben Lamm’s statement to USA Today, their “end-to-end (de-extinction) toolkit,” which was explored with the mouse, “works.” The billionaire added that they were now ready to work with “ancient DNA” and called it “pretty incredible.”
The Dallas, Texas-based company was originally established by Ben Lamm and Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church to de-extinct the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger/the Australian thylacine, and the dodo bird.
All you need to know about Ben Lamm’s net worth
Ben Lamm is a serial businessman who is best known for co-founding a venture capital-backed startup called Colossal Biosciences, or simply Colossal, in 2021 along with George Church. Their aim is to use genetic engineering and reproductive technology to de-extinct certain species.
According to Forbes, Ben Lamm, who’s the CEO of Colossal, has a real-time estimated net worth of $3.7 billion. In 2019, he raised $15 million in seed funding to use genetic technology such as CRISPR for work in conservation biology. After founding Colossal two years later, he garnered attention for claiming that his company would bring back the woolly mammoth.
In the wake of this, he secured investments from celebrities including Paris Hilton, Thomas Tull, Tom Brady, Peter Jackson, and Chris Hemsworth, among others, and raised $235 million until October 2024.
Previously, Ben Lamm founded other companies, including e-learning software company Simply Interactive, acquired by Agile in 2010; mobile app company Chaotic Moon Studios, acquired by Accenture in 2015; and digital gaming company Team Chaos, acquired by Zynga in 2016.
Others include SaaS conversational bot technology Conversable, acquired by LivePerson in 2018; and machine-learning AI firm Hypergiant, acquired by Thrive Capital in 2023. In 2022, Ben Lamm founded the software firm Form Bio to improve the working efficiency of scientists.
The Baylor University alum also founded a plastic degradation and synthetic biology startup, Breaking, in April 2024, followed by the biobanking nonprofit Colossal Foundation in October of last year. As of February 2025, it has raised $435 million, including a $200 million donation from TWG Global at a $10.2 billion valuation.
The 43-year-old Austin, Texas native, whose real name is Benjamin Edward Lamm, is a Board of Trustees member for The Explorers Club. Colossal itself is valued at $10 billion, as per Bloomberg.
More about Colossal Biosciences amid the latest innovation
Apart from de-extinction, scientists at Colossal are also working on disease-resistance gene editing and population genomics, and use stem cell technologies for non-model species, as well as assisted reproductive technologies for critically endangered species, according to the website.
A team of 60-plus researchers is spread across six biosciences divisions in three primary lab locations across the USA. These include the headquarters or the Dallas Lab in Texas, as well as the Church Lab (Harvard University) and the Boston Lab in Massachusetts. There is also the TIGRR Lab at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
The de-extinction of the dire wolf marks the first successfully de-extinct animal. It is a predator that existed 13,000 years ago in North America and is 25 percent larger than the gray wolf, with thicker and more muscular legs, powerful shoulders, a wider head and snout, as well as larger jaws and teeth.
According to scientists, the species weighed 150 pounds and was around 3.5 feet tall and more than 6 feet long. Colossal Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro said in the press release that she and her team contacted museums with dire wolf specimens and traced a 13,000-year-old tooth found in Ohio, alongside a 72,000-year-old skull discovered in Idaho.
They used well-preserved DNA from both specimens, created two dire wolf genomes, and compared them with other species. Upon assessment, the gray wolf was found to be its closest living relative, with a 99.5 percent DNA code match.
Subsequently, the team of researchers edited the gray wolf genomes at 20 sites over 12 genes and detected specific traits belonging to the dire wolf, including skin coating and pattern, hair length, and body size.
Finally, fertilized dire wolf eggs were implanted into two litters of surrogate dog mothers, and soon, three dire wolf puppies were born. A pair of male pups have been named Romulus and Remus after the historical founders of Rome. They are now six months old and were born in October 2024.
The female pup is called Khalessi after the Game of Thrones character and was born in January 2025. All three of them are currently living in a 2,000-acre ecological preserve in the northern USA. They have the distinguishing feature of golden yellow eyes.
In his press release, Ben Lamm claimed they are “super friendly” and have started to “come into their own.” Notably, the dire wolf appeared in modern-day pop culture, such as in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones, where the animal was the sigil/mascot of House Stark.
Martin, who is an investor in the project, flew down to see the newborns and “absolutely cried,” as per Ben Lamm’s interview with CBR.
“I write about magic, but you have created magic,” the fantasy author added.
The species also featured in the video games Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft, the indoor fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons, the card game Magic: The Gathering, and the Grateful Dead song, Dire Wolf.
The current resurrection of the dire wolf by Colossal is part of global wolf conservation efforts, which came about after Ben Lamm conversed with Indigenous groups. He shared that resurrecting the dire wolf was also meant to raise awareness about the species, blending science and pop culture.
Notably, the de-extinction of the dire wolf also helped give birth to four critically endangered American red wolves using novel and non-invasive blood cloning technology.
