They Brought Back Dire Wolves. Are We Playing God Yet?

Dolly the sheep was small potatoes.

Well, not literally. Dolly the sheep was a sheep. But she was also a landmark accomplishment in humanity’s quest for scientific advancement: A clone.

That was an incredible headline at the time, but it’s almost three decades old. That’s not exciting anymore. You know what is exciting?

Dire wolves.

Editing the blueprints of life

That’s the new fuzzy white creature on everyone’s radar. Colossal Biosciences, a U.S. biotechnology company based in Texas, prompted a media frenzy when they claimed they had successfully brought dire wolves back from extinction.

Those are important questions, but I find that wading into that argument tends to gloss over the really crazy part of what I just wrote:

THEY EDITED A GENOME.

Twenty edits in 14 genes. Entire sections of DNA were snipped out and replaced with alternative sequences, then injected into an embryo to be carried by a surrogate.

This kind of gene editing isn’t new (it’s been around for years), but the three living pups that Colossal has to show for its efforts are clear reminders that the technology for this kind of gene editing isn’t just available—it’s viable.

It’s happening. This isn’t the stuff of science fiction. It’s reality.

Humanity has the equipment and the knowledge to tinker directly and precisely with the genetic code containing the blueprints for life itself.

Playing in God’s sandbox

So what does that make us, exactly?

Gods?

That’s the natural comparison some will make. The ability to make broad, sweeping edits to a species’ genetic makeup—to potentially resurrect extinct species and place them back into ecosystems—isn’t that a matter of playing God?

Well, yes.

Scientists today routinely accomplish things that were once science fiction. But they aren’t creating life from nonlife. So, they really aren’t playing God. And no.

On the one hand, yes—we’re definitely playing with elements of life that were once entirely out of our reach. But on the other hand, we’re a long, long way from operating on God’s turf.

Consider the opening sentence of the Bible:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

That’s what God is capable of. That’s what “playing God” looks like. In the beginning, there were no heavens, no earth, no physical life—and then God created them.

From nothing.

Scientists today routinely accomplish things that were once science fiction. But they aren’t creating life from nonlife. So, they really aren’t playing God.

They’re playing with God’s creation.

Why the distinction matters

God has the ability to create from ​​​​​​nothing. Genesis 1:1 reveals that God brought “the heavens and the earth” into existence out of nothing.  

When God later created the human race, He “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). 

He didn’t just create the dust; He brought it to life.

We’re just playing with the results of that creation. Everything the scientific world has accomplished from the beginning of time until now—every invention, every breakthrough, every discovery—has all been a result of interacting with the universe God created.

That distinction matters. 

The ability to clone a living thing, or to reach into its genome and change things around, is impressive and terrifying—but it doesn’t bring us anywhere near an equal footing with God. Until we can bring an entire universe into existence with a spoken command—and then take that universe and fill it with life—we’re not capable of “playing God.”

It doesn’t matter if we’re resurrecting dire wolves or dinosaurs—our accomplishments will always pale in comparison with the God who created that life in the first place.

Destined for more than Jurassic Park

Speaking of dinosaurs, it’s impossible to write about something like this without at least mentioning the ever-relevant Jurassic Park quote:

“Don’t you see the danger, John, inherent in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun . . . Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

There’s no denying that the human race has made (and continues to make) truly incredible (and unsettling) strides in the realm of science. But there’s also no denying that we’re messing with levers and gears we don’t fully understand—that we can’t fully understand, not even with a thousand lifetimes of study.

We’re doing what we can without really considering if we should—not just in science, but in so many areas of life. That singular desire to grapple with things we don’t fully understand has resulted in our highest highs and our lowest lows—and there’s no doubt it will continue to produce more of both.

Still, what’s most important to remember is that God, not humans, ultimately has power over it all:

“For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:3-4).

We don’t hold any of that in our hands. We don’t have the power or the majesty required to play God. And yet . . . 

And yet we were created with potential: the potential not just to imitate God, but to become like Him (1 John 3:2). The road to fulfilling that potential doesn’t exist inside a laboratory. 

Genetic engineering won’t show us the way there, but God can.

Date Posted: May 21, 2025