Genetic Modification - Building a dinosaur from a chicken - Jack Horner 2011

Genetic Modification - Building a dinosaur from a chicken - Jack Horner 2011

1. dinosaur behaviour

   • Cared for young
     • Built nests
       • Evidence of colonial nesting and ‘site fidelity’ among ornithischian dinosaurs http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v297/n5868/abs/297675a0.html
       • Nest and egg clutches of the dinosaur Troodon formosus and the evolution of avian reproductive traits http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v385/n6613/abs/385247a0.html
     • Brought food to babies
     • Palaeontology: Parental care in an ornithischian dinosaur http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v431/n7005/abs/431145a.html
   • Social
     • Egg mountain in Montana
     • Lived in colonies
       • Traveled in herds
     • Morphology changes with ontogeny
       • Juveniles can recognize the adults and vice versa

2. 1993

   • Dinosaur DNA rare in amber. More likely to get Flora or mosquito DNA . More likely to get it from a dinosaur!
   • Grant from National Science Foundation to attempt Tyrannosaurus rex DNA extraction from thigh bone with Dr Mary Schweitzer
     • Found heme but couldn't extract DNA

3. Avian dinosaurs v's non avian dinosaurs. Extinct = non avian dinosaurs, Avian are modern birds

   • Dr. Hans Larsson, McGill University
     • Genetic modification of chicken to make a "chickenosaur" Reverse engineering Loss of tail, formation of wings and gene switching off teeth thorough bird embryogenesis
       • From dinosaurs to birds http://www.evodevojournal.com/content/5/1/25/abstract
       • Article http://www.livescience.com/17642-chickenosaurus-jack-horner-create-dinosaur.html
       • Dinosaur hands
         • Archaeoptrex has a primative hand, hand is now a wing
           • Embryonic pigeon looks ooks like archaeoptrex
             • Gene expression (turns on a fuses them together to create the wing)
       • Why?
         • Teach kids about Evolutionary and developmental biology
         • Technology, entertainment and design
       • Tooth development
         • Gene for teeth, Can turn the tooth gene on and produce teeth in chickens
           • Osr2 gene
             • Molecular patterning of the mammalian dentition http://www.gopubmed.org/osr2.html
           • Wnt pathway
             • Expression of Wnt signalling pathway genes during tooth development http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925477399000957
           • Hox-8
             • Expression patterns of the homeobox gene, Hox-8, in the mouse embryo suggest a role in specifying tooth initiation and shape. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1358591
       • Tail
         • Bird have rudimentry tail, embryo has large tail but it gene turns on and it is reabsorbed
           • Atavism: Embryology, Development and Evolution http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/atavism-embryology-development-and-evolution-843
   • Behavioural
     • Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin http://www.sciencemag.org/content/322/5909/1826.short
     • Phylogenetic reconstruction of parental–care systems in the ancestors of birds http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/357/1419/251.short
   • Morphology
     • Avian dinosaur embryos
   • Evolutionary biomodification tool
     • Selection
       • eg. Selective breeding in dogs
     • Transgenesis - take a favorable gene out of one and incorporate into another species genome
       • Example glofish / glow animals
         • Recombinant DNA Technology and Transgenic Animals http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/recombinant-dna-technology-and-transgenic-animals-34513w
     • atavism activation - gene expression
       • Switching on & off of genes

4. Hell creek project

   • B- rex
     • Incomplete, Small and found under a thousand cubic yards of rock
       • Died at the age of 16
         • Biomolecular Characterization and Protein Sequences of the Campanian Hadrosaur B. canadensis http://www.sciencemag.org/content/324/5927/626
       • Female
         • meduallry tissue found around the bone (calcium build up / storage when a bird is pregnant
           • Shows similarities to birds
           • Hips - on other mind map
     • Found soft tissue
       • Blood vessels
     • Found osteocytes
       • Form the bones
     • Evidence of protein but no DNA
       • DNA breaks down too fast when uncovered

Images and files in the map