Dinosaurs’ return deemed impossible by scientist

A scientist has recently explained why the dream of dinosaurs roaming the Earth again is unlikely.

Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park might have sparked wonder about the potential for scientists to resurrect dinosaurs. However, Dr Beth Shapiro from the biotechnology and genetic engineering firm Colossal Bioscience has clarified why this is improbable.

Although Colossal Bioscience is making strides in reviving animals like the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo, bringing back dinosaurs remains beyond reach, at least as portrayed in Jurassic Park.

Genetic scientist explains why Jurassic Park is impossible pic.twitter.com/436HiqZjNL

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In a company reel shared last month, Dr Shapiro stated, “Core to Colossal [Biosciences’] mission is this idea of de-extinction. When most people think of de-extinction, one very specific image comes to mind. But this is not what we’re doing. Dinosaurs went extinct more than 65 million years ago. The oldest DNA that we have recovered so far is somewhere between 1 and 2 million years old but most DNA degrades away by 10 or 20,000 years.”

You might wonder why scientists can’t just extract DNA from dinosaur fossils. Dr Shapiro addressed this, explaining, “Fossils are rocks and rocks don’t have DNA. It is also not possible to recover DNA from mosquitoes preserved in amber. I’ve tried it, it doesn’t work.”

So, despite the optimism in Jurassic Park, it turns out scientists have considered the possibilities and found them unfeasible. Dr Shapiro concluded with a candid apology, “There is no DNA in mosquitoes in amber, there is no DNA in dinosaur fossils, dinosaur de-extinction is not going to happen. I am very sorry.”

Reactions on Reddit were mixed. One commenter humorously called her a “Negative Nancysaurus Rex,” while another referenced a famous line from the film, saying, “Life, uh, finds a way. Recreating dinosaurs is back on the menu, boys!” Others expressed their disappointment more bluntly, calling her a “party pooper.”

In a 2015 article, Dr Shapiro further examined the concept of de-extinction as depicted in Jurassic Park. The film’s scientists used frog DNA to fill in missing genomes, which led to unintended consequences. She noted that the goal is usually to ‘find-and-replace those same bits’ from a close relative.

Using the woolly mammoth as an example, she explained that we would need to identify all the differences between the elephant genome and the mammoth genome, a task that might be too complex. Creating a genetically pure mammoth or any extinct species is likely impossible. However, she mentioned that certain characteristics could be resurrected if chosen correctly, leaving some room for hope.