Colossal scientist now admits they haven’t really made dire wolves

The dire wolf is “the world’s first successfully de-extincted animal”, Colossal Biosciences claimed on 7 April. And many people seemed to believe it. *New Scientist* was one of the few media outlets to [reject the claim](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2475407-no-the-dire-wolf-has-not-been-brought-back-from-extinction/), pointing out that the animals created by Colossal are just grey wolves with a few gene edits.

Now, in a subsequent interview, Colossal’s chief scientist Beth Shapiro appears to agree. “It’s not possible to bring something back that is identical to a species that used to be alive. Our animals are grey wolves with 20 edits that are cloned,” she tells *New Scientist*. “And we’ve said that from the very beginning. Colloquially, they’re calling them dire wolves and that makes people angry.”[](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26535300-700-a-whole-new-world-of-tiny-beings-challenges-fundamental-ideas-of-life/)