de-extinction Archives – THINK Magazine

The Company that Cried Wolf – Part 4

De-extinction: The Case of the Dire Wolf? – The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf has been one of the highest-profile scientific achievements of 2025. But the impression cultivated online is misleading – the dire wolf has not returned; it is being imitated. Five professors from the University of Malta have reacted to this complex story. In Part IV, Prof. Louis-F. Cassar considers the moral questions raised by a de-extincted future.

The Company that Cried Wolf – Part 3

Ecological Perspectives on the ‘De-Extinction’ of the Dire Wolf (Aenocyon dirus) – The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf has been one of the highest-profile scientific achievements of 2025. But the impression cultivated online is misleading – the dire wolf has not returned; it is being imitated. Five professors from the University of Malta have reacted to this complex story. In Part III, Prof. Sandro Lanfranco explores the potential ecological consequences of de-extinction’s logical conclusion: reintroducing dire wolves to the wild.

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The Company that Cried Wolf – Part 2

The Dire Wolf De-Extinction Project: Science, Significance, and the Ecology of Resurrection – The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf has been one of the highest-profile scientific achievements of 2025. But the impression cultivated online is misleading – the dire wolf has not returned; it is being imitated. Five professors from the University of Malta have reacted to this complex story. In Part II, Chev. Prof. Renald Blundell recounts the science behind this achievement and what it may mean for science’s future.

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The Company that Cried Wolf – Part I

Questioning Genetics and Posing Ethical Questions – The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf has been one of the highest-profile scientific achievements of 2025. But the impression cultivated online is misleading – the dire wolf has not returned; it is being imitated. Five professors from the University of Malta have reacted to this complex story. In Part I, Prof. Patrick J. Schembri and Rev. Prof. Ray Zammit speak on its science and ethics, following an introduction to the series by Jonathan Firbank.

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