[Animals] Is it possible to revive dinosaurs from their DNA?

[#Wittels-]

If we collected all the genetic material from prehistoric animals, how difficult would it be to bring dinosaurs back to life?
At least once in our lives we have had the question: is it possible to revive the dinosaurs? And if so, what would it be like to bring them back to today's biosphere? It turns out that a paleontologist at Ohio State University asked exactly the same questions, with a genetic basis. According to William Ausich, the key would be in the genetic material that has been preserved to this day.

If it were possible to sequence its complete genome, the specialist was asked at the time, how difficult would it be to bring a Triceratops to live with elephants? After years of study, this was the conclusion he reached.

Let the prehistoric beasts breathe again

To bring dinosaurs back, Ausich explains, the first thing would be to obtain their DNA. Complete. Initially, this represents a problem, because the genetic material degrades over time. Especially if 65 million years have passed, when these prehistoric beasts ruled the Earth.

 

For the beasts of that remote past to breathe again, the damaged fragments of their genetic material would have to be healed. Although some of the fossils contain truly valuable DNA evidence, complete sequences are difficult to find.

Not only that. The soft parts of the dinosaur's body were eaten at the time by other contemporary species. The pieces that were not eaten by other prehistoric animals decomposed over time, making it impossible for us to have anything other than their bones.

With the available fragments we have of prehistoric animals, bringing dinosaurs back to life seems like a distant dream. Even if the genetic code of these species were compatible with the animals that exist today, Ausich explains, that strange hybrid would not be a dinosaur.

On the contrary, it would be just that: a hybrid of an extinct animal with a current one. So, in a nutshell, it's unfortunately not possible to revive dinosaurs. And of course it's daunting: who wouldn't be excited to see an ichthyosaur sail the seas?

Still, private companies like Colossal Biosciences are making serious efforts to bring back species that humans pushed to extinction. Tasmanian tigers and woolly mammoths are among his most serious plans—all CIA-funded, by the way. However, in the menu of possible you returned, there is no dinosaur. Or not yet.

 

Link: https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/se-puede-revivir-a-los-dinosaurios/