Re: [Re: Clone]

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/9/00 7:43:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
terminator2029@usa.net writes:

>    I think that the only way that dinos could be cloned is if we managed to
>  clone the oldest true bird that we can clone, 

Small problem: no living bird species is "older" than any of the others, in 
any meaningful way.  We could pick one of the more primitive-looking types 
(probably a ratite), but that would still be a *looong* way removed from any 
non-avian dinosaur, and besides, conservation of outward form is no guarantee 
of conserved genetic structure.

>  then take its DNA and reformat
>  it ourselves to make it into dinosaur DNA, which I don't *think* we have 
the
>  technology for yet.

Well, someday we might learn how to monkey with its DNA to make it look like 
we think a dinosaur should look like, but all DNA is basically the same, and 
there is no way to "strip away" the avian innovations to get at the older 
genes presumably held in common with non-avian dinos.

Nick P.