JFC. They are not dire wolves, or at the very minimum it's way too early to make the claim they are dire wolves, they just contain some of the genes of dire wolves (20 genes). This is a private company making these claims. Where is their peer-reviewed research?
I assume they will publish the data. George Church is a not a grifter.
How many genetics edits would be required for you to deem it a new species or a dire wolf? (Hint: there isn't a clear answer to this)
JFC. They are not dire wolves, or at the very minimum it's way too early to make the claim they are dire wolves, they just contain some of the genes of dire wolves (20 genes). This is a private company making these claims. Where is their peer-reviewed research?
I assume they will publish the data. George Church is a not a grifter.
How many genetics edits would be required for you to deem it a new species or a dire wolf? (Hint: there isn't a clear answer to this)
How many genes are different between a grey wolf and a dire wolf? If it is say 1000, than 20 isn’t a big deal. If it say 40, now we are getting close enough to at least have a debate.
it isn’t clear that this is really that different than the gmo fish you can buy. Sure it is sort of nifty they are using dna from dead sources but the gene splicing is pretty much the same.
it is a bit crazy that these guys have like a half a billion dollars to do this.
I assume they will publish the data. George Church is a not a grifter.
How many genetics edits would be required for you to deem it a new species or a dire wolf? (Hint: there isn't a clear answer to this)
How many genes are different between a grey wolf and a dire wolf? If it is say 1000, than 20 isn’t a big deal. If it say 40, now we are getting close enough to at least have a debate.
it isn’t clear that this is really that different than the gmo fish you can buy. Sure it is sort of nifty they are using dna from dead sources but the gene splicing is pretty much the same.
it is a bit crazy that these guys have like a half a billion dollars to do this.
You can’t really say “how many genes are different” - you and I differ via mutations in thousands of genes (and millions of variants) but we’re both humans. Those variants just have very small effects, insufficient for speciation.
You can say “how many edits do I have to make to get something that will be accepted as a member of the species?” Which isn’t clear! Usually those edits are each in specific genes and correcting small changes when the species are close (grey wolf -> dire wolf). So they talk about “changing genes”
My guess they are using a combo of base and prime editing and re-writing the most casual variants (SNPs or small multi base changes) to get something that‘s morphological pretty close to a dire wolf! But let’s wait for the paper.
The good news is that we are learning how to bring back species! But this is not because I care a ton about woolly mammoths or dire wolves. It is good news because we can use that same technology to bring back all the species that have died out in the previous (and next) 100 years.
p.s. Dinosaurs are also not really possible because we have much less (if any) viable DNA and not "host species" that could be used as a surrogate for a dinosaur. Dire wolves can be raised inside regular wolves. Mammoths can be raised in elephants. Where would you raise the T-rex?
Thanks. This whole episode has taught not to trust the mainstream media yet again.
For what it's worth, there's no publicly available information conclusively proving the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis so you probably shouldn't trust whatever source you're getting that from either.
How many genes are different between a grey wolf and a dire wolf? If it is say 1000, than 20 isn’t a big deal. If it say 40, now we are getting close enough to at least have a debate.
it isn’t clear that this is really that different than the gmo fish you can buy. Sure it is sort of nifty they are using dna from dead sources but the gene splicing is pretty much the same.
it is a bit crazy that these guys have like a half a billion dollars to do this.
You can’t really say “how many genes are different” - you and I differ via mutations in thousands of genes (and millions of variants) but we’re both humans. Those variants just have very small effects, insufficient for speciation.
You can say “how many edits do I have to make to get something that will be accepted as a member of the species?” Which isn’t clear! Usually those edits are each in specific genes and correcting small changes when the species are close (grey wolf -> dire wolf). So they talk about “changing genes”
My guess they are using a combo of base and prime editing and re-writing the most casual variants (SNPs or small multi base changes) to get something that‘s morphological pretty close to a dire wolf! But let’s wait for the paper.
Good thread from a paleontologist on their side of dire wolf hype. Point 5 is especially salient to this discussion
Yesterday, @TIME broke news of a landmark advance in gene editing and de-extinction. This piece has proven divisive, and many criticisms I have seen are misplaced or incorrect. This 🧵 is intended to provide my take, based on my own expertise, and set the record straight. pic.twitter.com/kzBb2rKzUe