My new pet: T-Rex

[Queso]

The link below is to a news report claiming they have some tissue from a t-rex frozen for millions of years.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050324/ap_on_sc/t_rex_tissues

 

my question is....does this mean that in the future we will be able to take its DNA and make one? hatch one from an egg? :) :) :) :)

[TeleMad]

A thread about this finding was already made.

 

As far as being able to clone a T-Rex, I doubt it.

 

First, they don't know yet if they can get DNA from it. Note that DNA constantly undergoes damage in living cells, and not like once a week, but millions of time a day. For example, just the fact that the DNA is surrounding by water means it's in trouble: water reacts with the bases and deanimates them or otherwise chemically modifies them. I don't know, but I would think that after >60 million years entropy would have gotten the upper hand on the relatively fragile DNA. I imagine they might get some fragments, but I doubt they'd get a full chromosome.

 

Second, even if they can get DNA, even a full chromosome, I doubt they'd get a full set of chromosomes. n - 1 chromosomes wouldn't be enough.

 

Third, even if they did a full set of chromosomes, how would they go about making a clone? To clone a sheep, or mouse, or other animal, you need a serrogate mother to implant the enucleated-and-then-filled-back-up-with-the-DNA-you-want-the-clone-to-have egg into. Where are scientists going to get a living female T-Rex from?

[C1ay]

The link below is to a news report claiming they have some tissue from a t-rex frozen for millions of years.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050324/ap_on_sc/t_rex_tissues

 

my question is....does this mean that in the future we will be able to take its DNA and make one? hatch one from an egg? :) :) :) :)

 

No where have I seen a claim that it was frozen. The bone is from a Montana find and I don't believe any part of Montana has been frozen for millions of years. FWIW, the original news release is here.

 

Like Telemad pointed out, a surrogate would be needed for cloning even if they could yield some DNA from this tissue. I don't know of any species that might be close enough for cloning.

[Queso]

great responses, thanks. i had no idea DNA was that fragile.

i figured since most dinosaurs hatched, you could just have the egg hatch from something that lays eggs? (obviously no real deep thought went into that one)

ah i would have loved to see a dinosaur, and i wonder how accurate our models of them really are.

[Biochemist]

...I don't know, but I would think that after >60 million years entropy would have gotten the upper hand on the relatively fragile DNA....

Yes, but gee. We had a) 60 million years, :) structured, sophisticated organic precursors, c) an environment that was not particularly hostile (compared to the promordial soup) and d) the tendency of these elements to organize.

 

We should have seen a new phylum sprout.

[Biochemist]

I don't know of any species that might be close enough for cloning.

I had an ex mother-in-law that was pretty close to a T-rex. She could have been an ideal candidate for a clone host.

The bone is from a Montana

And she lived in Montana!!

I don't believe any part of Montana has been frozen for millions of years

But one glance from my ex mother-in-law could freeze flames. What if she met the putative T-rex in her childhood???

 

Coincidence? You decide.

[TeleMad]

Yes, but gee. We had a) 60 million years, :) structured, sophisticated organic precursors, c) an environment that was not particularly hostile (compared to the promordial soup) and d) the tendency of these elements to organize.

 

We should have seen a new phylum sprout.

 

You're not satisfied with all of the bird, mammals, plants, etc. that appeared only in the last 65 million years?

[TeleMad]

i figured since most dinosaurs hatched, you could just have the egg hatch from something that lays eggs? (obviously no real deep thought went into that one)

 

Hmmm, actually, all of my examples of cloning dealt with placental mammals. The use of eggs does change things: eggs can be incubated, and therefore don't require a surrogate mother.

 

But still, assuming scientists did somehow manage to recover a full set of chromsomes, how would they go about creating a viable T-Rex egg to put the recovered DNA into? The physical shell shouldn't be much of a problem: I imagine that scientists could rather easily create a synthetic shell. Creating a suitable nucleus would be more problematic. I'll stop here for now.