Ancestor's DNA Code Reconstructed

[RebelYell]

Ancestor's DNA code reconstructed

The work should help us understand how humans are put together.
Scientists have re-constructed part of the genetic code that would have existed in a common ancestor of placental mammals, including humans.

~~~~~~~~

The researchers used computer analysis to compare and contrast modern mammal genomes and then modelled a sequence that would have been common to all. The work is reported in the December issue of the journal Genome Research. The project was led by David Haussler, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California, Santa Cruz, US.

~~~~~~~~

"We took all the sequences from the contemporary organisms and we compared them - we built what we call a multiple alignment," explained Mathieu Blanchette, currently at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. "Based on the differences that we observed between the different mammals, we were able to work out, with pretty good accuracy, what changes would have occurred during evolution and figure out what, most likely, was the ancestral sequence from which everyone started," he told BBC News.

~~~~~~~~

Scientists have also identified the smallest number of genes required to sustain life in a bacterial cell (about 350). If they can overcome the many technical hurdles of building a wholly artificial cell in the lab, it is conceivable they could "create" - albeit simple - "life". But this would be very different from creating organisms on the scale of dinosaurs, or even small shrew-like creatures.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4056559.stm

[KingChicken]

1. Not according to the Christians, they believe what ever they want...

[rodeodance]

2. 0h but it is fun to dream and fictionalize dinasours (Jerassic Pk)

"But this would be very different from creating organisms on the scale of dinosaurs, or even small shrew-like creatures".