The once-extinct dire wolf species has been brought back to life after 10,000 years, and George R.R. Martin ‘s “ Game of Thrones ” lore deserves some of the credit.

Colossal Biosciences—the company whose mission is “de-extinction”—has pulled off one of the wildest feats in modern science: using ancient DNA and CRISPR gene editing to resurrect the dire wolf. Today,

“The de-extinction of the dire wolf and an end-to-end system for de-extinction is transformative and heralds an entirely new era of human stewardship of life,” said Dr. Christopher Mason, a scientific advisor and member of the board of observers for Colossal, per the company's website.