Scientists disapprove ‘Jurassic Park’ theory
No real-life Jurassic park! Ancient dinosaur DNA is unlikely to survive inside the bodies of insects encased in amber, a new study has found, ruling out the Jurassic Park theory that the giant prehistoric reptiles could one day be resurrected.
The idea of recreating dinosaurs by extracting DNA from insects in amber has held the fascination of the public for two decades, researchers said.
Claims for successful extraction of DNA from ambers up to 130 million years old by various scientists in the early 1990s were only seriously questioned when a study at the Natural History Museum, London, was unable to replicate the process. A new study by the University of Manchester can now confirm that the existence of DNA in amber fossils is highly unlikely.
The team led by amber expert Dr David Penney and co-ordinated by ancient DNA expert Professor Terry Brown used highly-sensitive “next generation” sequencing techniques, the most advance type of DNA sequencing, on insects in copal, the sub-fossilised resin precursor of amber. “In the original 1990s studies DNA amplification was achieved by a process called the polymerase chain reaction, which will preferentially amplify any modern, undamaged DNA molecules that contaminate an extract of partially degraded ancient ones to give false positive results that might be mistaken for genuine ancient DNA,” Brown said.
“Our approach, using ‘next generation’ sequencing methods is ideal for ancient DNA because it provides sequences for all the DNA molecules in an extract, regardless of their length, and is less likely to give preference to contaminating modern molecules,” said Brown.
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