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With science advancing at an incredible pace, the boundary between fiction and reality is increasingly becoming harder to distinguish. A fresh example of this is the de-extinction of the dire wolves, the mythical creatures from Game of Thrones. Thanks to Colossal Biosciences, these long-extinct creatures have been brought back to life—an achievement that reportedly left George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, in tears.
The dire wolves, which went extinct around 10,000 years ago, have made their return to Earth, blurring the lines between the fantasy world we saw in Game of Thrones and the reality we’re now living in. Martin shared the exciting news on his website, revealing that filmmaker Peter Jackson—who is also an investor in Colossal Biosciences—had called him with a “mysterious suggestion.” Jackson told Martin to get in touch with Ben Lamm, the CEO and co-founder of Colossal, who had something huge to reveal. Jackson, under an “oath of silence,” couldn’t disclose any details, but Martin could hear the excitement in his voice. After the call, Martin reached out to Lamm, and he expressed his satisfaction with that decision, saying, “And damn, I am sure glad I did.”
In February, Martin visited Colossal Biosciences, more than four months after the birth of two male dire wolves, Romulus and Remus, and just a month after a female pup named Khaleesi was born. Martin explained on his website that he had been keeping this secret for months, sworn to silence while eagerly waiting to share the news with the world.
Speaking to CBR, Lamm shared that he personally invited Martin to meet the wolves. The encounter had an emotional impact on the author. “He cried! He completely cried. He said this was like one of the greatest things that he’s ever seen,” Lamm revealed.
Martin himself couldn’t help but express how deeply moved he was by the experience. He wrote on his website that the rebirth of the dire wolf stirred him like nothing else in the world of science since the historic moment when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
With this groundbreaking achievement, the line between the fantastical creatures of fiction and the real world continues to fade, reminding us that the world of Game of Thrones is now blending more closely with our own reality.