5 replies to this topic

[Randomosaur]

Ever since I watched Jurassic Park, I have always been fascinated by dinosaurs, and the idea of recreating them. Of course, most scientists believe that cloning a dinosaur would be impossible because DNA doesn't survive in fossils, and we don't have an egg cell to hatch the dinosaur with. However, in 2012, Mary Schweitzer found DNA in tyrannosaur and hadrosaur osteocytes. Here is the paper:

 

http://www.sciencedi...75632821201318X

 

However, I have come across a series of articles on Park Pedia that explain why you CAN create dinosaurs. The series is incomplete, but it contains some good information. It may be on a Jurassic Park site, but the information is non-fiction. Please read the articles before jumping to conclusions.

 

http://jurassicpark....ating_dinosaurs

http://jurassicpark....ki/Dinosaur_DNA

 

Even if we can't find any DNA or proteins (DNA code can be deduced by looking at proteins) in fossils, we can deduce the DNA code of dinosaurs by comparing the genomes of their modern relatives. In 2002, scientists used this method to reconstruct a functional archosaur protein.

 

http://mbe.oxfordjou...9/1483.full.pdf

 

Lee M. Silver argues for the possiblity of recreating dinosaurs. In his book Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life, he wrote this:

 

"...evolutionary developmental geneticists believe that comparisons of DNA in birds and reptiles -on either side of the evolutionary line leading to dinosaurs- could provide some, although not complete, insight into the extinct genome of dinosaurs. Genetic, developmental, and evolutionary understanding and data could be combined with molecular understanding to allow rational design of a dinosaur on a computer. Starting with a virtual chicken genome, virtual genetic changes could be implemented to increase overall adult size, eliminate feathers and restore scales, turn wings back into elongated front and back legs, and mold the virtual animal into a reasonable facsimile of a particular dinosaur, such as a giant long-necked apatosaurus, a triceratops, or even a Tyrannosaurus rex. The designed electronic genome would be converted into organic DNA with nano-DNA writing machines that automatically link up thousands of smaller DNA fragments into whole chromosomes. The genome would then be inserted into a chicken egg devoid of its own DNA -in an advanced version of the process that created Dolly- and presto, dinosaur facsimiles."

 

There is also a small discussion forum about the topic on the wiki. I probably don't need to post a link, since this is a forum already, but I'll leave it here just in case.

 

http://jurassicpark....oning_dinosaurs

 

One day, I personally hope to see a living dinosaur.

 

Discuss.

 

 

 

 

 

[CamGoldenGun]

I thought this was all dis-proven of resurrecting ancient species because DNA has a half-life of only around 500 years.

[Randomosaur]

I thought this was all dis-proven of resurrecting ancient species because DNA has a half-life of only around 500 years.

 

Maybe Allentoft was wrong. he only studied bones that were stored in museum collections. According to Schweitzer, biomolecules in fossils begin degrading as soon as the fossil is excavated. The DNA found in the dinosaur osteocytes is also a blow to that study. It is unlikely that the DNA is bacterial because just like with ostrich cells, the DNA detecting techniques only stained the center of each cell. They also found histones near the DNA, and only eukaryotes have histones.

 

And proteins last longer than DNA in fossils. Indeed, proteins have been found and sequenced from dinosaurs before. By looking at the protein code, the corresponding DNA code can be deduced. And then there's comparative genomics.

[CamGoldenGun]

lol over my head. I was just reiterating what I read. Hopefully we'll be able to do this some day, riding a pteyrodactyl to work would be a lot faster than driving

[Randomosaur]

lol over my head. I was just reiterating what I read. Hopefully we'll be able to do this some day, riding a pteyrodactyl to work would be a lot faster than driving

 

I doubt we will be able to recreate pterosaurs. Pterosaur fossils tend to be rare and fragile, so finding proteins and DNA will be even harder. Pterosaur pycnofibres could be preserved in amber, but those will also be rare. And pterosaurs have no modern descendants, so comparative genomics of modern species won't work either, though I suppose you could compare genes of ancestral archosaurs.

 

You could engineer a pterosaur-like animal with synthetic biology though, using the same method Lee Silver says could be used to create facismiles of dinosaurs.

[GailG]

researchers up until now is not over yet with this dinosaur thingy