You don't think of a paleontologist as a scientist that could be on the cutting edge of human medicine but he may just get to where other scientists can't. I am talking about genetic manipulation.
Think of all the birth defects and diseases that occur when specific genes are expressed. If we could find a way to turn off those genes we would have the ultimate weapon in disease prevention! And cancer, one of the deadliest diseases, could be stopped without messy painful chemo and radiation treatments.
Jack Horner has a plan to turn off the genes that cause a chicken embryo to develop from its dinosaur predecessor into an actual chicken. We are talking no fused digits into wings and retaining its dino tail and teeth. A miniature dino that would be the greatest house pet ever...just watch out for your fingers...and it may try to eat your cat...but if it mated with a chicken you would just get a chicken...sweet!
I would also be interested to see what would happen if the genes that keep chickens relatively small were turned off. Could we have chickens the size of cows or would the sheer bulk crush their fragile hollow bones? What alterations would the Colonel have to do for a 10 piece wing and thigh bucket? Would it topple your car like the drive-thru brontosaurus rib incident on the Flintstones? So many fascinating possibilities!
I am going to follow this research because it gives me happy child-like B-movie thoughts of giant farm animals on a rampage. It would be far more exciting than Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Living Dead. (yes that is an actual movie and quite the hilarious busted mess that the title promises). Yay, science!
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...Jack Horner...as in the one that sat in the corner?!?
Nope. This Jack Horner wrote a book called How To Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have To Be Forever. It is a fascinating read. He has also authored a few other dino books.
Imagine enormous Buffalo wings!
They'd be arms, though, not wings.
Now the Octomom's family of 15 (14 kids plus her) can have chicken breast! Go whitemeat!
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