The so -called Metalupo, extinct over 10 thousand years ago and became famous thanks to the TV series The throne of Thrones, has been brought back to life. As reported by the American magazine Time, thanks to the DNA extracted from ancient remains and embryos developed in dogs that made surrogate mothers, three puppies were born from three separate pregnancies, between October 2024 and January 2025: the two males, Romulus and Remus, and the female Khaleesi, who now live in a protected and secret area.
The result is due to the US Biosciences US company, which a few weeks ago also approached the dream of bringing the mammoth back to life thanks to the birth of the first woolly mice, genetically modified to have a fur similar to that of these now extinct animals. The three puppies belong to the Aenocyon Dirus species, commonly known as enocono or to say wolf ‘, lived between 200 thousand and 10 thousand years ago in the Americas and Eastern Asia.
It is a lineage that separated from the other canids very soon, about 5.7 million years ago, which makes it a close relative of the African jackal. They had the size of a large gray wolf today, with a weight that reached 68 kilograms, but larger and sharp teeth, capable of hunting and cutting the large herbivores such as bison and horses. Colossal Biosciences researchers used the DNA extracted from two champions: a tooth of 13 thousand years ago found in Ohio and a bone of the ear 72 thousand years ago found in Idaho.
Usually, the cloning requires to isolate a sample cell, extract the nucleus that contains all the DNA and insert it in a private egg of its nucleus, starting from which the embryo can then develop. In this case, however, as Time tells, a different approach was chosen: it was sufficient to make 20 changes out of 14 genes of the common gray wolf common, and then transfer the genome thus modified in an egg. The result are the three puppies of a few months, characterized by white cloak, more powerful shoulders, larger teeth and jaws, more muscular legs and a characteristic howl.