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All of this would sound insane, were it not being uttered by a man who arguably has contributed more to our understanding of dinosaurs' development and behaviour than any other modern scientist.

Unsurprisingly, for a man who never grew out of his schoolboy fascination with dinosaurs, Horner, 65, retains a child-like excitement about his work, expressed by a mischievous grin that creeps out from an otherwise deadpan demeanour.

His long, greying hair and statesmanlike paunch do not quite fit the bill for a man who served as the inspiration for Dr Alan Grant, played by Sam Neill, in the first and third Jurassic Park films. But standing on Egg Mountain in Montana, the remote but spectacular spot where he and his colleague, Bob Makela, discovered a dinosaur nesting ground in the 1970s, he looks more at home than in his office in Bozeman.

That find not only identified a new species of dinosaur, a 30-foot duck-billed specimen that they named Maiasaura ("Good mother lizard"), but offered the first proof that dinosaurs, like many birds but unlike most reptiles, took care of their young.

The new project, however, involves rather less fieldwork. By flicking a few genetic switches in the laboratory - identifying genes that cause a bird-like characteristic and deactivating them - it should be possible to create a chicken that has arms and claws in place of wings.

"We are looking for ancestral genes, to turn them back on again to make a bird more like a dinosaur," Horner explains. "And since birds already are dinosaurs, it will be a dinosaur by definition."

The project has horrified some, in particular religious groups who accuse Horner of attempting to "play God". But he dismisses any claims that his work is unethical.

"I'm not sure what God has to do with it," he says. "We are using revolutionary tools, and if God has something to do with it, then I would say God gave us the tools to do something with them.

"Breeding programmes are exactly the same, it just takes longer. You breed two dogs together, you select a characteristic, you keep on selecting that characteristic, and you select another. This is just a shorter way to do it. There's no difference, though - it's still genetics."

Horner is confident that the project will be complete by the end of the decade. By then, he hopes to have modified the DNA so the chicken grows with teeth, arms, a long tail and any other dinosaur-like qualities his team can give it.

Scientists working on similar projects have already reported some success, with a team in Wisconsin identifying a tooth gene and a Harvard researcher managing to alter the shape of a bird's beak.

"It won't take long to do this," Horner says. "It might take a while to find the specific things we are looking for, but we are going to find a few others in between."

As I stand in the cavernous vaults of the Museum of the Rockies - which, thanks to the efforts of Horner and his colleagues at Montana State University, holds the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world - and examine a T Rex jaw the length of my arm, it is hard to imagine why Horner should have decided to do something so radically different.

But he says it is a simple case of life imitating art. Some years ago, he had discussions with producers about a fourth Jurassic Park film. These involved taking the plot in a different direction, where, via genetic engineering, scientists were able to modify dinosaurs - potentially making them more fearsome than any that previously roamed the Earth.

There have been no recent talks on the subject, but he tells me: "I expect it is going to come. We had a pretty good script some time back for Jurassic Park IV. I don't really want to give too much away, but let's just say the Dino Chicken project came out of that.

"In Jurassic Park we already have dinosaurs we've brought back - now just imagine genetic engineering with the dinosaurs we've brought back. Think about that. You can use your imagination."

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The Jurassic Park scientist who plans to turn a chicken into T Rex

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All of this would sound insane, were it not being uttered by a man who arguably has contributed more to our understanding of dinosaurs' development and behaviour than any other modern scientist. Unsurprisingly, for a man who never grew out of his schoolboy fascination with dinosaurs, Horner, 65, retains a child-like excitement about his work, expressed by a mischievous grin that creeps out from an otherwise deadpan demeanour.

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Boston Children's Hospital - Stem Cell Interactiv

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Boston Children's Hospital - Stem Cell Interactiv

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Stem Cells [Internet]. Salt Lake City (UT): Genetic Science Learning Center; 2014 [cited 2022 Jan 10] Available from https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/stemcells/

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During the 1980s, Capecchi devised a way to change or remove any single gene in the mouse genome, creating strains of mice that pass the altered gene from parent to offspring. In the years since, these "transgenic" and "knockout" mice have become commonplace in the laboratory.

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A blood thinning drug called ATryn, which is made from the milk of genetically altered goats, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last Friday-making it the first drug made from genetically engineered animals ever to be approved for use in the US, according to the Associated Press.

The approval of the drug clears the way for a whole new class of medications-those that are created from genetically altered animals instead of chemicals.
A Blood Thinning Drug from Goat's Milk
The drug, made by GTC Biotherapeutics, is an injection that will be used to treat patients who suffer from a rare hereditary disorder that puts them at a high risk for deadly blood clots. From the AP:

About 1 in 5,000 people don't produce enough antithrombin protein, according to Framingham, Mass.-based based GTC. As a result, their blood is more likely to stick together, occasionally causing clots that can travel to the lungs or brain, causing death. Half of patients with the disorder experience their first life-threatening clot before age 25.
Pregnant women with the ailment are at higher risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, because of blood clots in the placenta.

ATryn will not replace the conventional blood thinning treatments already prescribed, but will be used only during times of heightened risk, like when patients are to undergo surgery or give birth.
How to Make Blood Thinner from Genetically Engineered Goats

To make the drug, scientists from GTC put modified DNA, or rDNA, for the human antithrombin protein into single-cell embryos of goats. Goat embryos with the gene were then inserted into the wombs of surrogate mothers who gave birth to baby goats that produce the protein-charged milk.

Drugs from Genetically Engineered Animals
The approval of drugs from genetically engineered animals opens up a vast gray area, however. The FDA said it reviewed seven generations of the GE goats, and found them to be "healthy." But there still s slew of unanswered questions, like what would happen if some of the GE goats were to escape or were rereleased into the wild? What could happen if the engineered gene was introduced to a wild population of goats?

Also, some consumer groups claim that the FDA's "long-awaited policy will not require all genetically engineered foods to be labeled as such."

So it's difficult to predict how exactly this new frontier in medication will be handled, even though the FDA issued their final guidelines on regulating drugs made from genetically engineered animals (PDF). How will the public take to the prospect of using materials from genetically engineered animals' for drugs? Especially since other forms of genetic engineering like cloning remain steeped in controversy--ethical questions regarding scientists playing God will no doubt remain.
More on Genetic Engineering:
New Genetically Engineered Bacteria Could Make Cellulosic Ethanol ...
Venezuela Bans Genetically Engineered Crops
Sugar From Genetically Engineered Beets on Its Way
And if the GTC stock shares are any indicator of public opinion, it's not good-they fell 14.6 percent on the day of the controversial medication's approval.

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First Drug Made from Genetically Engineered Animals Approved by FDA

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A blood thinning drug called ATryn, which is made from the milk of genetically altered goats, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last Friday-making it the first drug made from genetically engineered animals ever to be approved for use in the US, according to the Associated Press.

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"DNA Restriction" Biology Animation Library :: DNA Learning Center

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The discovery of enzymes that could cut and paste DNA made genetic engineering possible. Restriction enzymes, found naturally in bacteria, can be used to cut DNA fragment at specific sequences, while another enzyme, DNA ligase, can attach or rejoin DNA fragments with complementary ends.

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Produced from 2001 through 2004, Iowa Public Television's Explore More online and broadcast series engages students in problems they can relate to, provides compelling content for investigation and gives students opportunities to form their own points of view on contemporary issues.
Although the full website has been retired, this archive provides links to project videos and related resources. Please contact us if you have questions or comments about Explore More.
The water we drink, the places we swim, and the plants and animals within our environments are increasingly threatened by pollution. Agriculture and urban runoff, industrial and household uses, and other sources impact this vital resource. What are the biggest threats to water quality in your area?

As our population grows, so do the demands we put on our natural areas. From houses to farms, landfills to hiking trails, working landscapes are a way of sustaining the land by balancing the social, economic, and ecological needs. Can we protect our natural areas and still use them?

From fossil fuels to biomass, there are several options in our current mix of energy resources. Investigate the advantages and drawbacks of each fuel. Discover the issues surrounding efficiency, consumption, infrastructure, and environmental consequences. How can we meet our energy needs in the future?

Genetic engineering has the potential to change the way we live. The science behind the agricultural, medical, and environmental achievements is spectacular, but this excitement is tempered by concern for the unknown effects of tampering with nature. How should we use genetic engineering?

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Produced from 2001 through 2004, Iowa Public Television's Explore More online and broadcast series engages students in problems they can relate to, provides compelling content for investigation and gives students opportunities to form their own points of view on contemporary issues.

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There can be a down side to artificial selection. Because this process essentially removes variation in a population, selectively bred organisms can be especially susceptible to diseases or changes in the environment that would not be a problem for a natural population. Inbreeding - the mating of closely related individuals - is also a problem.