Re: dinosaur cloning

["M.Alan Kazlev" <akazlev@kheper.auz.com>]

MGibb21521@aol.com wrote:

> Would it be possible to clone a dinosaur by using Loh's method?  That
> is,
> grinding up large quantities of dinosaur bone to get SOME of the DNA
> sequence,
> then fill in the gaps with avian, reptilian, or amphibian DNA?

last I heard, dino bones don't contain ANY original DNA (the supposed
DNA was due to contamination).  DNA breaks down relatively quickly -
pieces of it can survive for some thousands of years, but not for
geological periods.

>  Would it be possible to use the method explained in Jurassic Park,
> where they take ancient DNA from a blood-sucking insect incased in
> amber?

no - for same reason as mentioned above.

>  What other means could one get dinosaur DNA?  Is there any?

the only way I can think of would be to take living bird DNA &
retro-engineer it (this would of course require an Avian Genome Project
first!) & see what you come up with.  Keep going thru trial and error
until u get to archaeopteryx and maniraptorian coelosaurs (or something
like 'em!).  Go back even further, then forward for other theropods.
Or, go back further to proto-dinosaurs (Eoraptor etc), then go forward,
see if u can get sauropodomorphs & ornithischia.

Hell, why stop there?  Why not go back to the dawn of life & reconstruct
EVERYTHING!!!  lol!

NOTE: You will need INCREDIBLE number crunching capabilities for all the
gene sequencing.  The sort of horsepower that'd make the biggest
Cray.seem like an abacus in comparison.  No worries though.  I
confidently predict that with bio-computers (which use DNA as a
structural material!, quantum computers (quibits & quantum
indeterminacy), and nano-computers (nanotechnological rod-computing) all
coming in over the next few decades we'll be able to reconstuct
dinosaurs (or something very like them) some time in the first half of
the 21st century.

> Thanx
> Chandler Gibbons
> Denver, Colorado, USA



-----------
Kewl!   :-)

M.Alan   Proteus   CyBeRrDeWd

*****************************************
Kheper - Metamorphosis and Evolution home page
http://www.kheper.auz.com/
*****************************************

"The street finds it's own use for things"
    Wm. Gibson
*****************************************