Dr. Jack
Horner, the very Paleontologist who inspired the first Jurassic Park, is working
on making the cinematic classic a reality, claiming he could engineer dinosaurs
into existence in the next 5-10 years. Dr. Horner believed that the
regeneration of these creatures is contingent upon the cultivation of their ancient
DNA, however, most of this DNA has been decomposed. Instead, Harvard and Yale
have turned to a close relative of these creatures (you guessed it), the
chicken. Instead of making dinosaurs from the genetic scraps found in the
deserts, why not just mutate a chicken to look like one? This reverse evolution
technique has also been attempted on elephants to become woolly mammoths. The
four physiological differences between the chicken and grandpa T-Rex are the
hands, mouth, arms, and tails. Horner has already discovered the “genetic
switches” to reverse a chicken beak into a dinosaur-like snout. Dr. Horner
himself discussing this project can be seen in this video.
If you are familiar with the
Jurassic Park saga, you know how this story ends because it ended the same way
four different times within 20 years. I understand the scientific value of
being able to create some of the ancient species the human race has never been
able to know, with rocks and bones being our only connection. It will help
resolve some residual mystery and evolutionary void. However, let’s stop and
think about this. If this is going to become a reality, some preparation is in
order. Unless there is an undeveloped Isla Nublar somewhere in the ocean, there
is no possible way any society can house and care for these creatures. Not to
mention that the oxygen levels are significantly lower now than when dinosaurs roamed
the Earth. Consequently, upon there creation, they will either immediately suffocate
and die or we will have several tiny, but highly dangerous dinosaurs. Ultimately,
I hope for the sake of societal infrastructure that this does not come to fruition.
This is really interesting! I honestly had no idea that Jack Horner was actually a scientist. Although, I was always afraid of Jurassic Park when I was younger because of the dinosaurs so I guess that's why. For the same reason I never wanted to watch these movies, I would have to agree that I do not think our world can sustain them. But I think that may be for the best.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we will ever have a world that could create nor sustain dinosaurs. However, the idea behind reverse evolution is very cool but scary. I saw a joke article the other day that said one day humans could begin to give birth to babies that are similar to chimpanzees because reverse evolution is going to begin to happen and that is how our species will be wiped out. Although the article wasn't factual, its a very weird concept to think about.
ReplyDeleteI think that the novelty of seeing dinosaurs would be amazing, but in the end it wouldn't be fair to bring these ancient species back to a planet where their evolution stopped millions of years ago. They would not be equipped to survive on this planet and would be used as a zoo attraction, which would not be fair to them. Very interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it would be incredible to be able to experience the existence of dinosaurs, I do not think they would thrive in the type of world we now live in. As we have seen in the movies, this typically does not go over well!
ReplyDeleteJarassic Park is one of my favorite movie series ever and ive always been so interested in dinosaurs. Be life changing to actually be able to see one. Interested to see what happens to this research
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