Scientists have grown 'dinosaur legs' on a chicken for the first time

Scientists have grown 'dinosaur legs' on a chicken for the first time
www.sciencealert.com...

Until very recently, one of the biggest myths in science was that all dinosaurs have been extinct for the past 65 million years. But thanks to new fossil discoveries that filled in our knowledge about avian dinosaurs, we now know that only some dinosaurs went extinct following an asteroid collision with Earth - others survived and gave rise to the birds we live with today.

To figure out how this evolution occurred, researchers in Chile have manipulated the genes of regular chickens so they develop tubular, dinosaur-like fibulas on their lower legs - one of the two long, spine-like bones you’ll find in a drumstick.

They achieved this by inhibiting the expression of a gene called IHH or Indian Hedgehog (seriously), which saw their chickens continue to grow the long, dinosaur-like fibulae that originated in their embryonic form.

Now talk about manipulating evolution!!! I am nor for this nor against this but if one day man can re-create the raptor I will be truly amazed.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

So chickens can grow lizardy legs by.. design?

Interesting, maybe it means the origin of man is other species.

Is the chicken in question still able to breed with other chickens?

As soon as I read your title this popped into my head. I also am neither really for or against it, but this is really quite fascinating!

originally posted by: wisvol
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

So chickens can grow lizardy legs by.. design?

Interesting, maybe it means the origin of man is other species.

Is the chicken in question still able to breed with other chickens?

We shall soon find out what they will do with the chicken...if it survives...right now as far as I know they are doing studies under embryo stasis

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

one day man can re-create the raptor I will be truly amazed.

Can't. There is no dinosaur DNA available. A reasonable facsimile thereof, maybe. A raptorish chicken.

Hell, can't even make a mammoth, even though there are bits of mammoth DNA available, it still wouldn't be a mammoth. It would be a mammothish elephant.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

thats cool! There was similar experiments but the embryo grew teeth like a crocodile. I want to see an adult dino/chook.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

one day man can re-create the raptor I will be truly amazed.

Can't. There is no dinosaur DNA available. A reasonable facsimile thereof, maybe.

Hell, can't even make a mammoth, even though there are bits of mammoth DNA available, it still wouldn't be a mammoth.

It just takes one good sample of prime DNA...right now they can't but maybe one day they will! Don't doubt science my good friend...time will tell what can and cannot be done...especially if researchers wish to play God with evolution and life

originally posted by: wisvol
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

So chickens can grow lizardy legs by.. design?

No... it has nothing to do with 'design', they are dormant genes that reside in chickens (and other birds) due to commonly shared ancestors through species divergence.

originally posted by: wisvol
Interesting, maybe it means the origin of man is other species.

'Maybe' has nothing to do with it, we actually have a very detailed account of the biological history and ancestory of Homo sapiens

originally posted by: wisvol
Is the chicken in question still able to breed with other chickens?

I don't see how physiological activation in genes that determine leg structure would decrease fertility rates at all, but a reasonable question nonetheless if other genes needed activation to be able to produce the feature.

I don't think 'speciation' is really the focal point of this experiment, however.

Jurassic Park has always been one of my favorite movies of all time. I think most people will agree with me that it holds a special place in the movie memory banks.

I also think there was a thread recently about a chicken with a dinosaur tail?

Also the theory on an asteroid killing the dinosaurs is wrong. Earth had two small moons before capturing our current moon. They as gravity pulled their orbit tighter crashed into our planet 64 million years ago.

How do I know this? Read Thiaoouba it solves all the mysteries everyone on ATS wants answers to.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

one day man can re-create the raptor I will be truly amazed.

Can't. There is no dinosaur DNA available. A reasonable facsimile thereof, maybe. A raptorish chicken.

Hell, can't even make a mammoth, even though there are bits of mammoth DNA available, it still wouldn't be a mammoth. It would be a mammothish elephant.

Phooey !!!!

I am waiting for when they genetically make a human with tiny little mammal rat legs.

none of your nay saying!!!

Rat men will one day rule the planet.

a reply to: Ghost147

What if man becomes so adept at genetically manipulating dna in modern life, and we develop the ability to actually re-create the entire genetic structure of the first creatures to have evolved, and at the same time we invent a time machine capable of sending things back in time, but we wipe out our modern reality from some chaotic malfunction, and it sends the first evolved life back to the beginning of time.. and we.. are ... GOD ?

Oo


-- What came first... the time machine, or the human who invented the time machine? *rocks back and forth*

Well, it answers that old question of which came first....the chicken or the egg, right?

Just a shame awakening dormant genes wont get us a real dinosaur.

A chicken is a direct descendant of the Raptor. In fact , research shows that a chicken embryo more closely resembles a Raptor , From its feet to the rows of bony teeth , to its lizard looking tail and skin. Of course , it loses most of these traits before it has hatched.

There was a group that was trying to halt or slow down the loss of these traits before the chicks were hatched. I dont know how that turned out. Maybe the same research team ?

originally posted by: wisvol
a reply to: Skywatcher2011


Interesting, maybe it means the origin of man is other species.

Not really.

originally posted by: woogleuk
Well, it answers that old question of which came first....the chicken or the egg, right?

Chickens diverged from another species that also laid eggs. So it was a gradual change from their ancestor, to what we know them as today. Evolution occurs at a very slow, very gradual pace over successive generations. For a mutation to spontaneously occur that formed something as complex as Egg-Laying would actually disprove evolution.

Another way to look at it is that nothing is a 'fully formed' species, everything is simply in a state of transitioning. Because Evolution hasn't been observed to stop at any period in history, all life on earth is in a constant state of evolving. We only describe things as a species because we're viewing it from a particular snapshot in time.

Furthermore, if we were to look at the question from another perspective, it would technically be the egg, considering it's ancestors also laid eggs. So, the question would have to clarify which 'egg' it was referring to: 'The chicken or the chicken egg?' or, 'The chicken or egg laying?'

If we look at the question from a more generalized perspective - "what came first, the organism or the egg" - we can also show that organisms came first. The very earliest life reproduced Asexually, and so eggs and egg laying were a product of evolution.

originally posted by: woogleuk
Well, it answers that old question of which came first....the chicken or the egg, right?

Just a shame awakening dormant genes wont get us a real dinosaur.

But it will make succulent dino drumsticks for KFC I bet !!

Sad that this could be the ultimate end result of such things...

a reply to: Ghost147

I wish more people could grasp evolution as you do.

It is fluid, not static. It's just a slow process that in our limited view, appears static.

but it is just a slow dripping tar.. constantly moving, but we just are so short lived we cannot witness anything.

A seed sprouts and can grow into the largest tree. it does not go from seed to tree. as people who argue evolution always think..

"Herp why are there still apes, deeeeerrr god is the only answer!" no.. your lack of logical thought is the problem here.

Refreshing to see your post. so often it's lost in between the inordinate blathering of nincompoops.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Cool thread.

Reminds me of a guy years ago that manipulated chicken eggs to see what was dormant. If I recall there was a documentary about it. He never let the eggs fully develop, but used X-Ray's and could see teeth, tail etc.

Oh yeah?

What dino did a duck come from?

originally posted by: laminatedsoul

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

one day man can re-create the raptor I will be truly amazed.

Can't. There is no dinosaur DNA available. A reasonable facsimile thereof, maybe. A raptorish chicken.

Hell, can't even make a mammoth, even though there are bits of mammoth DNA available, it still wouldn't be a mammoth. It would be a mammothish elephant.

Phooey !!!!

I am waiting for when they genetically make a human with tiny little mammal rat legs.

none of your nay saying!!!


Rat men will one day rule the planet.

no, no, no... It's Cat men that shall rule the planet!
The rest of the world will be that of The Island of Doctor Moreau.