2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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In the movie "Jurassic Park" they use the complete set of dinosaur DNA to resurrect them. Since dinosaur DNA is near-kaput for millions of years, is it possible to manually repair them without master references?
     Amy Gaviglio, M.S.: I am a genetic counselor for the newborn screening program in Minnesota. I also supervise the short-term follow-up unit in the program in order to ensure babies identified get diagnosed and services. DNA is a pretty strong substance and can survive for a long time if preserved in the right conditions. However, it would be virtually impossible to resurrect dinosaurs (or any animal for that matter!) from a small bit of DNA, especially if that DNA was not in good condition.
Surya Bangsa Elementary in Indonesia (8th grade student)

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