Is it possible to resurrect the dinosaurs
One of our readers in the comments mentioned the question: «When genetics will resurrect the dinosaurs?» With the release of «Jurassic World», and after many news about the success of some groups of scientists, we decided to take up this subject and to tell you the news from the world of science about the resurrection of something long dead. Say in advance that tried to sound mostly positive news.
So, the resurrection of extinct species sounds a little ominous. Really, just remember the old horror movies, where some mad Professor raises the dead by electrical stimulation and infusion of some strange green liquid, and then hear the creepy laughter and the monster is getting out of control. Frankenstein, not otherwise.
But actually it looks not so terribly, and the pursued goals are quite noble. Extinct species can tell us about the past of our planet, in addition, their play once again proves that people can deal with absolutely different at first glance, the unsolved problems.
But it is clear that everything is not done. And there are many scientists who speak positively about the possibility of the resurrection of dinosaur, first going to tackle the job smaller-scale, but also of science fiction. This task – the resurrection of the mammoth. And so the search for its solution is already in full swing in the spring of this year. You can even see some race various scientific groups which undertook the revival of the extinct animal.
Recall that mammoths became extinct about 10 thousand years ago, and appeared during the Pliocene epoch. Their height could reach 5.5 meters and the weight could be about 12 tons. If we proceed from the mass, the mammoth is approximately twice as prevalent in this setting of modern elephants.
One group is the research team of George Church from Harvard. The Church is a supporter of full decoding of the genome of a mammoth, in order to recreate the extinct species of elephants. Others believe the possible cloning mammoths by using the remains discovered in the permafrost.
We worked primarily with genes that are responsible for the survival of the organism in the conditions of low temperatures: the genes of the coat, big ears, subcutaneous fat, primarily hemoglobin. Now we have the healthy cells of an elephant with fragments of DNA of a mammoth. We have not yet presented the results of this experience in a peer-reviewed journal, but I’m going to do it soon.
George ChurchMammoths, according to genetics, will be able to stabilize the ecosystem of the Siberian tundra. A very noble task, and I hope it will become feasible in the near future. But hopes in this respect are well founded.
Recently, another research group led by Dr. Vincent Lynch of the University of Chicago, has completed the first stage of the study of the genome of the mammoth. The obtained genes surprised scientists with their specialties. For example, the gene tRPV3 helped animals to live in conditions of permafrost. Genetics, introduced this gene into the genome of laboratory rats, whose bodies are soon overgrown fur. In the result, the rats preferred to stay in the cool areas of the enclosure.
At least three teams are currently busy with the restoration of the genome of the mammoth and if the experiments will be completed successfully, in the future it will be possible to recreate other creatures, mainly to the DNA found in the fossilized remains.
It is worth noting that this kind of work though is carried out in dynamic mode, but its fruits we are unlikely to see next year.
Well, now a bit of realism. Will we see a real dinosaur in our lifetime? Probably not. From objective reasons. Even with these major breakthroughs in the field of genetics, we are unlikely to find enough good genetic material of extinct reptiles.
Although an optimistic Outlook for the American paleontologist Jack Horner, who is also chief scientific consultant of the film «Jurassic Park». He is known for his attempts to recreate a dinosaur, he was able to successfully find fossils that contain blood vessels and soft tissue. But to find the complete DNA he, like many others, still failed. So Jack decided to go the other way, namely, by rolling back the evolution. With the help of genetic engineering scientist is going to return to the chicken to the state of their ancestors. Horner believes that his project will be successful, and return of the dinosaurs humanity is separated a few years.
I think we are able to achieve such a set of genetic changes in the same embryo, in which animal will hatch successfully and live a normal life, moving and functioning without problems. I’d be extremely surprised if we don’t do it within 10 years. And if we’re lucky, we’ll get it in the next five years, spending on the whole process not more than five million dollars.
Jack Hornerof the Horner Idea taken up by other biologists. For example, a research group headed by Arhat by Abramovym from Harvard and Phantom-Anjana Bhullar from Chicago were able to obtain embryos of chickens with snouts of dinosaurs, suppressing the development of proteins which are formed beaks. Digital models of the skulls revealed that bones in many of them was similar to the cranial bones of perioptic (Archaeopteryx) and dinosaurs (such as VelociRaptor).
Judge for yourself, we have been able to create embryos of birds with teeth, changed the structure of the head. We are working on the tail and paws. So I am sure that with the help of genetic engineering we can create Kurosawa in the next five to ten years. After all, birds are stopped in the development of the dinosaurs.
Jack HornerIn any case, we believe that the prospects in this direction. There is a big problem, in order to recreate the genome of the dinosaurs that died out millions of years ago, but it is possible that the studies do go the other way – by rolling back the evolution. What would come of it? Who knows, maybe nothing. But maybe we still get to see some little freak of old, who amaze us with their strangeness and difference from what we’ve seen so far.