Posted on 03/11/2016 7:08:42 PM PST by Mellonkronos
[I posted this under science and food. Why? Because it's a story about genetically engineering a chicken so it's legs will grow like a dinosaurs, from which it evolved. But think about it. Instead of drumsticks you can eat dino-legs! And what will they taste like? Chicken, of course! Yummy!
Dinosaur-like lower leg created on bird through molecular experiment
Any one that has eaten roasted chicken can account for the presence in the drumstick (lower leg) of a long, spine-like bone. This is actually the fibula, one of the two long bones of the lower leg (the outer one). In dinosaurs, which are the ancestors of birds, this bone is tube-shaped and reaches all the way down to the ankle. However, in the evolution from dinosaurs to birds, it lost its lower end, and no longer connects to the ankle, being shorter than the other bone in the lower leg, the tibia. In the 19th century, scientists had already noted that bird embryos first develop a tubular, dinosaur-like fibula. Only afterwards, it becomes shorter than the tibia and acquires its adult, splinter-like shape.
Brazilian researcher Joâo Botelho, working at the lab of Alexander Vargas (University of Chile) decided to study the mechanisms that underlie this transformation. In normal bone development, the shaft matures and ceases growth (cell division) long before the ends do. Botelho found that molecular mechanisms of maturation were active very early at the lower end, ceasing cell division and growth. When a maturation gene called Indian Hedgehog was inhibited, this resulted in chickens that kept a tubular fibula as long as the tibia and connected to the ankle, just like a dinosaur.
Botelho and collaborators believe that early maturation at the lower end of the fibula occurs because of the influence of a nearby bone in the ankle, the...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
ggg ping
chaos theory predicts that this is not a good idea, lol
The fibula bone (orange) in Dinosaurs is as long as the tibia and reaches down to the ankle (upper left), whereas in adult birds, it is splinter-like and shorter than the tibia, missing its lower end (upper right). However, bird embryos actually start out like dinosaurs, and then develop their adult anatomy (centre). The transformation can be stopped by experimental inhibition of Indian Hedgehog (IHH), a bone maturation gene, which leads to a bird with a dinosaur-like fibula (lower right)
Really interesting, great post!!
What’s the worst that could happen...?
What’s the worst that could happen...?
++++
How would you like to be chased by a 10 foot chicken with “bio-legs” that can run the 100 yard dash in 5 seconds?
A lot of assumptions here. The biggest being that dinosaurs evolved into modern day birds.
homogeneous extrapolations- some features ‘look similar’ therefore they are related- but homologous features do not a relative make
Jurassic Park, brought to you by Tyson.
Thanks SteveH.
I’m pretty sure this is old news. When our kids were little I could swear we bought my son chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs!
Those dino-shaped chicken nugs are available in big bags at Costco. It’s perverse, but I’ve been known to grab one of those, and a jar of pesto to use as a dipping sauce. :’)
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG
Q: What does SunkenCiv eat?
A: DINOSAUR SHAPED CHICKUM OF COURSE!
Never tear a dactyl.
Thanks SteveH.
yes it is
I wish there was a graphic of an emu or maybe an ostrich
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