Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has announced that it has succeeded in reviving an extinct species, the dire wolf, known from the television series Game of Thrones. The move was the result of a decade of scientific research into de-extinction, or the restoration of extinct species, according to Time.

The wolves, which roamed North and South America about 13,000 years ago, were recreated by editing the gray wolf's genome. They used DNA extracted from the fossilized remains of the fearsome wolves. The pups were born to dog surrogate mothers.

The result is three wolf pups that have some of the characteristics of dire wolves, including large size and thick, light fur that is not typical of gray wolves.

Dire wolf in the wildPhoto: Colossal Biosciences

The two males, Romulus and Remus, named after the twin brothers in Roman mythology, were born on October 1, 2024, and the female, Khaleesi, inspired by the main character in the television series Game of Thrones, was born on January 30, 2025.

Dire wolf pupPhoto: Colossal Biosciences

The company's chief scientist, Dr. Beth Shapiro, called it "the first example of a functional reintroduction of an extinct species. Although these animals are not genetically exact copies of extinct wolves, they carry 20 modified genes responsible for body size, coat color, skull shape, and other key traits.

Dire wolf lying on the groundPhoto: Colossal Biosciences

This was achieved by creating a hybrid genome using CRISPR technology, Love Dalén, a professor of evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University and an advisor to Colossal, told CNN.

“There’s no secret that across the genome, this is 99.9% gray wolf. There is going to be an argument in the scientific community regarding how many genes need to be changed to make a dire wolf, but this is really a philosophical question,” Dalén said.

“It carries dire wolf genes, and these genes make it look more like a dire wolf than anything we’ve seen in the last 13,000 years. And that is very cool," he added.

For now, all three are being kept in a 2,000-acre fenced area at a secret location in the northern United States, where they will be carefully studied. According to the company, the animals will remain in captivity, but the technologies developed for this project can help preserve endangered species.

Dire WolvesPhoto: Colossal Biosciences

Time magazine even featured a photo of these wolves on the cover of its new issue.

Dire wolf on Time Cover

The company is also working to revive the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger. They argue that their technology can help preserve the planet's genetic diversity, which is expected to decline by 30% by 2050.

But not everyone in the scientific community is on board. Some fear the unpredictable consequences of introducing reanimated species into modern ecosystems. Paleontologist Julie Meechan, who participated in the study of direwolf DNA, says the experiment is a scientific breakthrough, but warns: "We have trouble with the wolves we have today."