Dino DNA - Can we replicate these ancient beasts?

2/5/14

   In the mid 90's, the world was fascinated and awe stricken over the fantasy world of Jurassic Park. Two years after the movies release into theaters, scientists debunked myths surrounding dinosaurs and discovered new microbes that had to do with prehistoric worlds. Scientists said that you can't reanimate a T-Rex with just fossils alone, you would need far more than just a few bits of DNA found on these objects. However, they can reanimate things that were encased in sap, such as fungi, bacteria and other microbes. Things stuck inside sap remain perfectly in tact and are protected from all the elements. These microbes contained within the sap can be very valuable to future research. Certain bacteria and fungi that used to inhabit these insects, plants and soil can transform into a kind of "time capsule" so they can hide away until the living conditions for that species gets better. During this process they do not requite food or water but just simply stay in a catatonic state. For how long exactly? 650 million year old microbes have been found in sap. These bacteria and DNA fragments prove to be the scientific mother load for scientists hungry to find out more about dinosaurs and ancient life. This article is very straightforward in what it is saying to all of us. Since it is almost 20 years old I am positive more research has been done in that amount of time about certain DNA and microbes in prehistoric items. Certainly way more than we knew 20 years ago. This topic is always fascinating, because maybe someday we will have enough knowledge to finally replicate a dinosaur and be able to walk alongside them much like in Jurassic Park.

Picture: 

http://images.travelpod.com/tw_slides/ta00/9b3/afe/amber-with-ancient-lizard-caught-inside-boca-chica.jpg