Science & Technology

Scientists grow a dinosaur leg on a chicken

By T.K. Randall
March 12, 2016

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Modern chickens might not look particularly vicious, but inside their bodies they possess many genetic throwbacks from a time when their distant ancestors were large, carnivorous reptiles.

But is it really possible to turn back the clock and transform a chicken in to a Velociraptor ?

To find out, scientists at the University of Chile recently conducted a reverse evolution experiment involving a lower leg bone called the fibula which was believed to be long and tube-shaped in dinosaurs but is now short and splinter-like in modern birds.With a bit of genetic tinkering, the researchers were able to effectively disable the gene which limits the fibular's growth in chickens thus creating a modern bird with the leg bone of a dinosaur.

"The experiments are focused on single traits, to test specific hypotheses," said evolutionary biologist Alexander Vargas, one of the scientists involved in the project.

"Not only do we know a great deal about bird development, but also about the dinosaur-bird transition, which is well-documented by the fossil record."

Whether we will ever be able to genetically rewind an entire bird however remains to be seen.

Source: Extreme Tech

Tags: Chicken, Dinosaur