In the article,
British Scientists Clone Dinosaur, the journalist provides jaw-dropping news about how scientists were able to recreate an Apatosaurus, which they named the baby "Spot." The dinosaur is now being incubated at John Moore University in Liverpool (Merseyside, England). How did they do it? Well, the scientists retrieved DNA from the well preserved Apatosaurus fossils and then they implanted it into an ostrich's womb. The reason why they used an ostrich as a sort of surrogate mother is because ostriches and dinosaurs have a lot of genetic traits in common, says Dr.Gerrard Jones who is a biology professor at the university. He also says that the microstructures of their eggshells are practically the same and that's why it worked so smoothly. This experiment is the first ever done in genetic engineering, and because of this event, it has caused quite a controversy between animal rights advocates and religious groups. But as of now, the dinosaur is happily stable and scientists can't wait to see what the future holds for the little Apatosaurus.
Even though this is a breakthrough for science, I highly doubt that Spot the Apatosaurus will be able to survive long enough for it to grow into a full sized adult. I feel like it's body wouldn't be able to handle our environment because it's so different from the world that they once thrived in. Nonetheless, it is pretty amazing that there is a living dinosaur as of now. I hope we can learn new things about the dinosaur and hope that it survives.
To learn more about Apatosaurus dinosaurs click here:
http://www.livescience.com/25093-apatosaurus.html
To read the original article click here:
http://news-hound.biz/british-scientists-clone-dinosaur/
This scientific breakthrough will change so much for the future of cloning. Since these scientists have recreated a creature that existed so many years ago it says a lot about what they could do with organisms that are not extinct. Despite the fact that this little dinosaur may not live to adulthood, this discovery will dramatically impact science and all the possibilities for the future.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that ostrich and dinosaurs have genetic traits in common. The recreation of the Apatosaurus is big breakthrough in genetics. This experiment can lead to many more efficient reproductions.
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool! Even if the baby dinosaur doesn't live, the fact that it was able to be recreated is amazing! Maybe one day there will be technology that will allow the baby dinosaur to grow, this would be an awesome breakthrough for science!
ReplyDeletePlease note the date on the original article... :)
ReplyDeleteWhile this is an entertaining idea, being able to bring back the dinosaurs, I am irritated that this experiment was performed. First, this is life that is being used basically as a "look what I can do" stunt. Humans tend to forget that these lab animals are living beings, many with emotions. Additionally, if that baby does not survive, what pain will it go through? Second, did they not see Jurassic Park. There is a reason why these creatures are no longer on the planet. There are just some things that we shouldn't mess with.
ReplyDeleteI did some looking into this article, and I hate to say it's a hoax. News-Hound seems to be more of an online tabloid then anything else, and a lot of their stories are fabrications. I'm pretty sure they even re-use of the name of the "scientists" in the articles in other stories, because I couldn't find anyone named Gerrard Jones at LJMU. Also, there's no other article anywhere online, on tv, or in papers about this story, which would have exploded over the media if it was true. The picture they use in the article is also definitely mammalian (I'm fairly sure it's a baby kangaroo). Yes, ostriches and dinosaurs share a decent amount of DNA similarities, as they both come from a similar branch in the tree of life; birds evolved from dinosaurs. However, perfect DNA samples would never have lasted this long intact to be able to pull this off, and even if it miraculously worked, the creature born would probably be infertile, mutated, and not able to carry on. All in all, this isn't real.
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