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Scene from 'Game of Thrones' showing Jon Snow with his dire wolf Ghost
HBO
GRINDELWALD, Switzerland — Biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences announced it has revived the dire wolf, an animal popularized by "Game of Thrones."
The company accomplished the feat through the use of DNA taken from two fossils (a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull) and the edited genetic code of a gray wolf.
Using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats or CRISPR technology, the company birthed three dire wolves with white fur — similar to Ghost, the dire wolf of "Game of Thrones" character Jon Snow.
"It was once said, 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,'" said the company's co-founder and chief executive officer Ben Lamm in a statement. "Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation."
Two male wolves were named Romulus and Remus after the legendary founders of Rome who were raised by a female wolf.
The third wolf, a female puppy, was named Khaleesi — another "Game of Thrones" reference, being one of the titles of Daenerys Targaryen.
All three currently reside in a hidden 2,000-acre preserve, said to be certified by the American Humane Society, and are expected to weigh around 60 kilograms once mature. A gray wolf weighs 90 kilograms on average.
"Game of Thrones" creator George R.R. Martin is a cultural adviser and investor on the project and already seen the two male wolves at the preserve.
"Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem," the author said in his own statement.
Colossal Biosciences also had help from another fantasy creative, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson, who owns the official touring 150-kilogram Iron Throne prop that was used in promotions for "Game of Thrones."
The said prop was sold last year for $1.49 million (P85.5 million) to an undisclosed bidder, and it appears Jackson was the one who got hands on it.
Jackson loaned his Iron Throne to the company, using it for a photo shoot involving Romulus and Remus.
The company previously cloned red wolves and are working on bringing back extinct animals like the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo bird.
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