Earlier this week, Colossal Biosciences revealed that it had whelped a trio of new dire wolves, a species of large wolf that went extinct some 10,000 years ago, during Earth's last ice age. (Technically, they edited the DNA of modern grey wolves to make them resemble ancient dire wolves, but potato-potatoe, okay?) Dire wolves enjoyed a lot of public exposure over the past several years thanks to the HBO show Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin. In that series, each of the Stark children get a direwolf to call their very own. Colossal played on the connection by inviting Martin out to pose with one of the dire wolf cubs:
George R.R. Martin holds the first new dire wolf born in 10,000 years pic.twitter.com/5JPepJK8k1
— Winter is Coming (@WiCnet) April 8, 2025
If I were Martin, I would make that photo my wallpaper on my phone, my laptop, and my wall.
As Martin himself revealed, he was actually clued into what Colossal was doing through The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who was already an investor in the company. I have to say the rebirth of the direwolf has stirred me as no scientific news has since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon," the author wrote. I can see where he's coming from: just looking at that photo is a little emotional; I can't imagine what it's like to hold one the little scientific miracles.
Speaking to CBR, Colossal CEO Ben Lamm described Martin's reaction when he met the baby dire wolves for the first time: "I did fly George out to meet the Wolves, and he cried! He completely cried. He said this was like one of the greatest things that he's ever seen."
As I said, Colossal has whelped three dire wolves so far: there are the twin brothers Romulus and Remus — Martin is holding one of them in the photo — and their little sister Khaleesi, which was one of the titles given to the character of Daenerys Targaryen in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's pretty clear that Lamm is a fan. Did I mention that Colossal also took a photo of Romulus and Remus asleep on the Iron Throne?
Scientists revived dire wolves, which have been extinct for thousands of years, and then photographed them on the Iron Throne: pic.twitter.com/MqLgqEcO3f
— Winter is Coming (@WiCnet) April 7, 2025
Colossal intends to try reviving other extinct species like the wooly mammoth and the dodo bird, as well as help endangered species like the red wolf survive. Might it eventually graduate to bringing other Game of Thrones creatures to life? The way technology is progressing, never say never...
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