The thought can be quite scary, but can Dinosaurs really be brought back from extinction? This is a thought that has been inside the minds of many for ages, as Dinosaurs have always been such interesting creatures to so many people, sparking enough interest to create countless books, TV shows, and movies about them. Oxford biochemist Dr. Allison Woollard says it is theoretically possible to recreate some species from DNA.
When asked about how it could be possible for Dinosaurs to be brought back from DNA, Dr. Willard explained that birds of today are direct descendants of Dinosaurs, “We know that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs, as proven by an unbroken line of fossils which tracks the evolution of the lineage from creatures such as the velociraptor or T-Rex through to the birds flying around today.” Explained Woolard. She then explained that this discovery of evolution implies that buried within the birds of today are the switched off genes that control Dinosaur like traits.
So how could this process be done? Well it is certainly not an easy one. The article in which I have retrieved this information says that, “To make a full genome, scientists would have to combine millions of short fragments of nucleic acids in exactly the right order, just like putting together a giant Jigsaw Puzzle.” So technically speaking, yes it is a possibility, but it is very unlikely. However, there is greater possibility of other extinct species coming back from 2 million years ago.
The Woolly Mammoth existed 2 million years ago and eventually went extinct about 9,000 years ago. However researchers and scientists believe that they can bring the species back. This largely thanks to a recent discovery of a Female Woolly Mammoth found in a Siberian Ice tomb in May of 2013. Scientists believe the Woolly got stuck in a swamp and died over 39,000 years ago. And with this discovery, scientists believe they can use the blood sample and DNA samples of the Woolly to clone it.
-This is a photo of the recently discovered Woolly Mammoth on display in Tokyo, Japan.
When scientists found the mammoth, there was still blood and muscle tissue, which makes the process to re-create the prehistoric beast even more possible. Scientists plan to take the DNA samples and reassemble them into a full genome. I do have some questions to pose on the situation that cannot be completely answered at the moment however.
Will the Woollys be able to survive in the wilderness and function normally in the wild? Will they be of the same size and stature as they were a million years ago? How long will the process take to recreate the species?
I encourage you to read the articles I have found that bring up the information I have discussed about Woolly Mammoths in this post. You can find them here and here.
I guess only time will tell if science can produce one of Earth’s prehistoric giants.
Sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2358695/Woolly-mammoth-frozen-Siberia-39-000-YEARS-goes-display-Tokyo-woolly.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/could-the-woolly-mammoth-be-brought-back-to-life-9160366.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/real-life-jurassic-park-dinosaurs-could-2954054#ixzz3DgNLjYIi
i always thought about the idea of brining back the dinosaurs and with todays society and technology it would not surprise me if we were not that far from it. Yet at the same time i feel as though we should not try and bring things back from extinction yet i think that we should focus our energy on preserving the organisms we have from going extinct
Instead of focusing on bringing back a creature that destroys everything, why isn’t there a larger focus on the ways to create more of the species that are endangered so that they won’t go extinct as well.
It would be so cool if dinosaurs exist again, I’ve always been interest in these creatures. I find this blog interesting, because it talks about something unusual, really I would’ve never thought of this. But, I agree with the comments above, I don’t think they are going to be able to survive here.
While it’s incredibly interesting, actually putting the effort into recreating dinosaurs seems pointless. They would obviously not be able to just roam the country side, the only real option would be to set up a Jurassic park type of deal, and everyone knows how well that worked out. And actually keeping the creatures alive would pose a bigger challenge then we’re ready to accept. But the idea of bringing back extinct animals can be very important and useful, just not applied to dinosaurs.
This is a great blog post that I found so interesting! I have always wondered if there was a way to bring dinosaurs back to life. They were able to live on the earth for years and years so if we were to be able to recreate them, would they still be able to survive? I find everything about this topic super interesting!