JAKARTA – The question of whether dinosaurs can be resurrected through the remnants of their DNA as described in novels and films Jurassic Park received a response from scientists.
Because in this work of fiction, a number of scientists used dinosaur DNA to resurrect these ancient animals such as Tyrex, Triceratops, Velociraptor and others.
According to William Ausich, a professor Emeritus of Paleontology at Ohio State University, United States, recreating dinosaurs from DNA is something that is easier to imagine than to do.
Professor Ausich considered that dinosaur fossils were the only remains of these ancient animals. However, he said scientists would find it difficult to find dinosaur DNA.
In addition, the DNA is deteriorating and disintegrating due to the length of time the dinosaurs died around 7 million years ago. Therefore, he argues that current technology is also still difficult to generate dinosaurs from DNA. The last dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago.
“The last dinosaurs died at the end of the period Cretaceous, that’s more than 65 million years ago,” said Ausich as quoted by earthsky.org.
Professor Ausich continued, even if scientists managed to find the remains of dinosaurs, it would not necessarily be able to recreate dinosaurs in their entirety. Instead, scientists had to combine pieces of dinosaurs with the DNA of living animals to create hybrid organisms or mixed animals.
“However, these organisms would not be complete or actual dinosaurs but rather hybrids of dinosaurs and birds or reptiles,” said Ausich.
Report from The Converstion mentions that scientists have found fragments DNA dinosaur in Neanderthal fossils and in a number of ancient mammals such as mammoths. Reportedly, the DNA findings are less than 2 million years old. That means, the DNA has not been so destroyed and can still be investigated by scientists.
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