Jurassic farce
OXFORD UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS triumph in mapping the first ever functional genome sequences from an extinct species. But hopes of a real-life Jurassic Park are dashed by scientific realities.
Dr. Alan Cooper and his team ground up small chunks of bone from moa, extinct giant birds of New Zealand. From this, sequences were obtained from the mitochondria (energy-producing structures) in the bird's cells. Amazingly the isolated DNA sequence is the largest ever assembled from an extinct creature - totalling 17,000 base pairs in length.
These findings shed light on important evolutionary processes. It helps to prove that birds called ratites were a major feature of the animal life of Gondwana, a huge land mass which stretched across the southern hemisphere 140-180 million years ago. This has enabled scientists to link the evolution of new species of bird, such as emu, kiwi, or ostrich, with the break up of this super-continent.
But what about the possibility of bringing back the dinosaur? The research has major implications for the future of cloning extinct species. Technical difficulties, however, in isolating and piecing together stretches of old DNA mean that the prospect of walking amongst dinosaurs will remain science fiction. "Jurassic Park is a nice idea," says Dr. Alan Cooper, "but ultimately it seems that it will be impossible for us to clone extinct species, and therefore it is critical that we do not become complacent in our conservation efforts and start assuming that we will be able to bring things back to life if they do become extinct."
Large parts of most nuclear genomes of animals are made of junk DNA, making genome sequencing difficult. This means that obtaining a complete genome from an extinct creature like a dinosaur to clone it back into existence would prove practically impossible. The brainchild of Stephen Speilberg, therefore, is destined to remain extinct.
15th Feb 2001