• Question: would it be possible do do what they did in jurassic park and re create the dinosaures

    Asked by furno47 to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Maria on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I don’t think so! Its a great idea, but when species go extinct that seems to be it. It is probably not possible to extract the DNA and transfer it to a host in the way they did in the film. But who knows…maybe one day!

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      In theory I suppose it would be possible to splice the DNA from dino genes into the embryo of a developing reptile but I dont think this will ever happen. In Jurassic Park they extracted some dino DNA from a mosquito encased in ancient amber. I’m afraid DNA molecules don’t survive that long though (remember dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago and many species before then too). So it wouldn’t be possible to synthesize more dinosaur DNA to make a whole dinosaur genome because we wouldn’t know enough about its structure. Also- dinosaurs were very well adapted to specific niches or environments during a time on Earth when there was more oxygen in the atmosphere, the plant life was very different and of course there were lots of other dinosaurs and small mammals about to provide food resources. If we were to create a dinosaur today using original dinosaur DNA I should imagine it would be very unhappy with our present atmospheric composition and probably wouldn’t grow very much before it died ;(

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