Jurassic Park experiment a success after 500 million-year bacteria bought back to life

www.wtfnews.org...

Ok, how smart is this.....? If this was already posted, please delete thread. Well the DNA was 500 million years old but the E-coli cell membrane was new. I don't know if there were other 'ingredients' in the cell they used.

How do you guys feel about this?

I feel sick.

This is how the continents looked.

and this is about what lived, en.wikipedia.org...
There were even no mammals existing when this bacteria lived...

Originally posted by PrplHrt
I feel sick.

Yes I wonder what happens if the germ would get loose in the general population.

What possible good can come of reviving an extinct bacteria? No one has a resistance to it. These fools could wipe out civilization.

225 million years ago, that is almost 250 million years after Germ!, these were the first mammals:



Looks like a sexy mouse.


EDIT, does anybody know how I can post a picture in the thread that shows immediately?

reply to post by PrplHrt


Apparently they wanted to see how it would evolve.

In the end of days the dead will arise and kill us all. Micro-zombies?

Hooray! This is exactly what we need to kind of stir things up a little. I mean, it's become so stale what with all of the world wide peace, disease and threat-free consistent overall well being. Shoot, I'm ready for a little excitement.
[end sarcasm]

reply to post by QueenofWeird

Pure foolishness. This kind of experimentation will eventually lead to disaster. It's only a matter of time.

Originally posted by QueenofWeird



This is how the continents looked.

and this is about what lived, en.wikipedia.org...
There were even no mammals existing when this bacteria lived...

I think you're reading your own evidence wrong. The scale on the Wikipedia page you linked is in millions of years. It clearly states there was land animals at 500 million years ago, and multicellular life at 1000 million years ago.

Originally posted by PrplHrt
What possible good can come of reviving an extinct bacteria? No one has a resistance to it. These fools could wipe out civilization.

This is an unfounded, sensationalized claim. You have no proof of this ... you just watch too many movies.

Using a process called paleo-experimental evolution, Georgia Tech researchers have resurrected a 500-million-year-old gene from bacteria and inserted it into modern-day Escherichia coli(E. coli) bacteria. This bacterium has now been growing for more than 1,000 generations, giving the scientists a front row seat to observe evolution in action.

"This is as close as we can get to rewinding and replaying the molecular tape of life," said scientist Betül Kaçar, a NASA astrobiology postdoctoral fellow in Georgia Tech's NASA Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution. "The ability to observe an ancient gene in a modern organism as it evolves within a modern cell allows us to see whether the evolutionary trajectory once taken will repeat itself or whether a life will adapt following a different path."

Scientists place 500-million-year-old gene in modern organism

Originally posted by PrplHrt
What possible good can come of reviving an extinct bacteria? No one has a resistance to it. These fools could wipe out civilization.

This is ignorant alarmist Chicken Little-ism.

As if none of this is done without safety protocols.

Have you even considered the stockpiles of Anthrax, Plague, Spanish Flu, Ebola, and all the other nastiness that are locked away, kept, contained, examined and worked on daily?

There are much worse things in labs than this wonderful reviving of something lost and once extinct.

Well this is quite interesting I guess I'll jump the gun for a few and say this could be a very bad idea; but on the flip side there could be a lot of things we could learn from this. Seems kind of like a Pandora's box in a way but ultimately I have to admit humanity sure knows how to get around.

Originally posted by Ryanssuperman

Originally posted by QueenofWeird



This is how the continents looked.

and this is about what lived, en.wikipedia.org...
There were even no mammals existing when this bacteria lived...

I think you're reading your own evidence wrong. The scale on the Wikipedia page you linked is in millions of years. It clearly states there was land animals at 500 million years ago, and multicellular life at 1000 million years ago.

I am talking about mammals and not animals in general...and I do read the chart in the right way

Just a theory,

Dec 21 2012 this bacteria (oops) gets released into the general population.
Dec 21 2013 we are no longer on this earthly plain!

Originally posted by PLUMBER1
Just a theory,

Dec 21 2012 this bacteria (oops) gets released into the general population.
Dec 21 2013 we are no longer on this earthly plain!

But but but.....21 December 2012 is just a story Why can't they resurrect those horribly huge insects that used to live? Imagine being chased by a monster bug

Originally posted by Druscilla

Originally posted by PrplHrt
What possible good can come of reviving an extinct bacteria? No one has a resistance to it. These fools could wipe out civilization.

This is ignorant alarmist Chicken Little-ism.

As if none of this is done without safety protocols.

Have you even considered the stockpiles of Anthrax, Plague, Spanish Flu, Ebola, and all the other nastiness that are locked away, kept, contained, examined and worked on daily?

There are much worse things in labs than this wonderful reviving of something lost and once extinct.

We humans seem to have this desire to tamper with things we do not understand Sure that does lead to cool new things. But it would be hilarious if some ancient germ resurrected out of the mist of time would get on the loose and kill us off.

reply to post by QueenofWeird


I don't think that bacteria would be able to outperform evolved bacteria of the same type..

500 million years gives you quite the advantage.