A Real Live Apatosaurus?

Dinosaurs Roaming the Earth in the Next Ten Years!

British Scientists have reached a milestone in genetic engineering.  A living, breathing dinosaur has been cloned at Liverpool's John Moore University.  Or so was reported on March 28, 2014.  The dinosaur is a baby Apatosaurus, nicknamed "Spot" and is currently being incubated at the University College of Veterinary Medicine. "Spot" was cloned by extracting DNA from preserved Apatosaurus fossils. Once the DNA was harvested, it was then injected in to a fertile ostrich womb because ostriches share genetic traits with dinosaurs. 

The Apatosaurus for those who are pondering, is a mid-sized sauropod dinosaur reaching 30 feet tall, 67 feet in length and weighing 66,000 pounds; that lived in the Late Jurassic Period, from 154 to 144 million years ago. Apatosaurus were omnivorous, meaning they ate plants, animals and eggs.  It's also thought that they might have been scavengers.  

So what's the College of Veterinary Medicine to do with this creature that will grow to such enormous size, I ponder?  Well, animal right's organizations including PETA are having fits over this endeavor, and fear that Spot will become a huge lab rat, with a life of experiments and torture. 

This is all pretty amazing since the scientist's goal is to repopulate the world with dinosaurs within the next ten years.  And that is, if the super volcano at Yellowstone doesn't erupt and bring about another period of mass extinction!

http://news-hound.org/british-scientists-clone-dinosaur/

Females with Male Chromosomes

Being More  Selective Might be a Good Choice

I recently ran across an interesting article that really has me pondering.  An article by Alanna Ketler in collective-evolution.com entitled "This Study Will Make You Think Twice About Who You Are Getting Into Bed With" has come up with some interesting findings.

It seems that scientists have made a discovery that many women possess the Y-chromosome male gene in their blood.  So if maybe you are pondering why, the obvious answer would appear to be from being pregnant with a male son.

Women carry cells from the fetus in their bloodstream and organs, regardless whether the pregnancy was terminated or if there was a miscarriage. The gene remains with the mother throughout her life. 

However, surprisingly the Y-chromosome gene is also showing up in women who have never been pregnant. 

In a 2004 study by Immunologists at the Fred Hutchinson Caner Center, it was concluded that women carried the male Y-chromosome gene from having sexual intercourse. Yes, through intercourse women can hold on to male genes and DNA in their organs and blood stream for their entire life!

Well, this sure opens up an entire new topic for discussion over a glass of wine!

Frankencrops Invade Human DNA!

Or Will We Become What We Eat?

After reading a post on Facebook from a publication in the Natural Revolution Empowering Natural Living, entitled: "Confirmed:  DNA From Genetically Modified Crops Are Transferred Into Humans Who Eat Them", I am reminded of older SF movies that my father loved to watch--“The Swamp Thing”, “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”, “Enemy from Space”, “Invaders from Mars” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

 In the aforementioned article there are scientific concerns based on research which reveals that meal-driven DNA fragments can complete genes that enter into the human circulation system through an UNKNOWN mechanism. 

Based on an analysis of over 1000 human samples from four independent studies, this study was published in the Public Library of Science.  What is feared by the science community is that they have no idea of the long term effects that GMO crops and food will have on humans.  Recent advances in genome science indicate that organisms have been discovered to share their genes not only through reproduction but also through consumed and digested food products. 

Prior to 2013, our government concluded that the transfer of DNA from GM crops/food was unlikely to occur.  However, I’m pondering if they did in fact have prior knowledge of this potential and are we just one huge science project?

Maybe there was some insight into these older SF movies and the truth is just coming out, Frankencrops altering human DNA to glow in the dark zombies.