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Den of Geek reports on Colossal Biosciences’ remarkable achievement in bringing back the dire wolf, extinct for nearly 10,000 years. The article details how in October 2024, two dire wolf brothers named Romulus and Remus, followed by a female named Khaleesi, became the first of their kind to howl on Earth after millennia of silence. CEO Ben Lamm reveals it took just 18 months from project inception to the birth of the first wolves, a testament to the rapid advancement of Colossal’s gene-editing and CRISPR technologies. Using DNA extracted from fossils dating back 11,500 and 72,000 years, scientists reconstructed the complete dire wolf genome, comparing it to modern canid species to identify key genetic differences in size, shape, and vocalization. The piece highlights how this scientific breakthrough has strong cultural connections to Game of Thrones, with author George R.R. Martin becoming emotional upon seeing the wolves for the first time, stating “I have the luxury of writing about magic, but you, Ben, have created magic.” The wolves now reside on a 2,000-acre nature preserve and have even been photographed on a replica Iron Throne owned by Peter Jackson, who donated it to Colossal for the occasion. https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/game-of-thrones-real-dire-wolf-is-back/