Sophie Bennett
In 2015, Yale and Harvard scientists manipulated chicken embryos to grow snouts resembling those of dinosaurs. This was done to study the evolution of birds from dinosaurs. However, claims that scientists created a T-rex embryo using chicken DNA are false. In 2016, a satirical article reported that researchers at North Carolina State University produced the first living dinosaur embryo in millions of years. This was later debunked by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, which stated that the story was fabricated and the personnel cited were made up. While T-rex and chickens share genetic similarities, no hybrid embryo has been successfully created.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Scientists created a T-Rex from a chicken embryo | False |
| Year of the claim | 2016 |
| Source of the claim | World News Daily Report |
| Number of Facebook shares | More than 2,000 |
| Claim | Scientists created the first fully living dinosaur embryo in millions of years |
| Location | North Carolina |
| University | North Carolina State University |
| Lab | Paleontology Research Lab of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences |
| People involved | Linda Rushmore, Dr. Lindsay Zanno |
| Type of embryo | Hybrid between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chicken |
| DNA sample source | Soft tissue cells in a pregnant Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil |
| Age of the DNA sample | 68 million years |
| True fact | T-Rex's closest modern relative is a bird |
| True fact | Chicken embryos can be manipulated to grow dinosaur-like snouts |
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What You'll Learn
Scientists have not created a T-Rex from a chicken embryo
In 2016, a story circulated that scientists had created a T-Rex embryo from chicken DNA. However, this story is false. While it is true that chickens are the closest modern relative of the T-Rex, and the two share genetic similarities, no such hybrid has been created.
The original story was published by World News Daily Report (WNDR), a satire website, and included made-up researchers and a fictional quote from a real scientist, Linda Rushmore, from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The article also featured unrelated images, including a stock photo of the lab in which the embryo was supposedly created.
In response to the article, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences issued a statement denying the story's claims, calling its content and sources a complete fabrication. The museum also noted that dinosaur DNA has a short shelf life, making it highly unlikely that viable DNA could be extracted from a dinosaur fossil.
Despite this, the false story has continued to circulate on social media, with Facebook users sharing the article and expressing excitement about the idea of bringing dinosaurs back to life. While it may be tempting to believe that such an incredible advancement has been made, the reality is that scientists have not created a T-Rex from a chicken embryo.
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The story was published by a satire website
It is understandable that some readers might have been fooled by the story of scientists creating a T-Rex from a chicken embryo, as it was presented as a news story. However, this story was indeed published by a satire website, the World News Daily Report, which describes its content as "satirical" and "fictional", with the tagline "Where facts don't matter". The story, published in 2016, reported that scientists in North Carolina had created "the first fully living dinosaur embryo in millions of years" using DNA from chicken skin.
The article included a number of fabricated details, such as a quote from a supposed researcher, Linda Rushmore, who was described as the head researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' Palaeontology Research Lab. In reality, the lab is led by Dr Lindsay Zanno, and the museum issued a news release denying the story's claims when it first surfaced, calling it a complete fabrication. The article also featured unrelated images to illustrate the story, including a photograph of a University of Washington professor, which was captioned as "French bioethicist Jacques Clement".
Despite the story being false, it is true that T-Rex and chickens share genetic similarities, and scientists have indeed manipulated chicken embryos to grow dinosaur-like features, such as snouts similar to those of Velociraptors. However, the idea that scientists have created a fully living T-Rex embryo using chicken DNA remains firmly in the realm of satire and fiction.
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The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences debunked the article
In 2016, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences issued a statement debunking a news story that reported the recreation of a Tyrannosaurus rex embryo in its Paleontology Research Lab. The museum's statement called the story a complete fabrication, noting that the personnel cited in the report were made-up and that the article originated from World News Daily Report, a satirical and fictional website.
The article in question, published on April 15, 2016, claimed that scientists in North Carolina had successfully created "the first fully living dinosaur embryo in millions of years" using DNA from chicken skin. It reported that a 68-million-year-old DNA sample was retrieved from soft tissue cells found in a pregnant Tyrannosaurus rex fossil and introduced into the skin cells of a chicken, resulting in the creation of a living dinosaur embryo.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, led by Dr. Lindsay Zanno, refuted these claims, stating that the content and sources of the article were fabricated. They clarified that the museum's Paleontology Research Lab is real but emphasized that the specific research and individuals mentioned in the article were fictitious.
Furthermore, the museum's statement addressed the scientific limitations of recovering dinosaur DNA from fossils. Scientists have proposed that DNA has a short shelf life, with most estimates suggesting it cannot persist beyond a few million years. This casts doubt on the feasibility of obtaining viable DNA from dinosaurs that became extinct over 65 million years ago.
While the idea of resurrecting dinosaurs à la Jurassic Park may be intriguing, it is important to approach such claims with skepticism and refer to reliable scientific sources for accurate information. In this case, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences played a crucial role in dispelling misinformation and reinforcing the understanding of the challenges inherent in dinosaur DNA research.
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The embryo is a hybrid between T-Rex and chicken
In 2015, Yale and Harvard scientists manipulated chicken embryos to grow snouts resembling those of dinosaurs. The researchers aimed to study how beaks emerged as dinosaurs evolved into birds. They found that two proteins, FGF and Wnt, were expressed differently in birds and reptiles. By blocking these proteins, the team produced a snout similar to those of small dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Archaeopteryx.
In 2016, a satirical article by World News Daily Report claimed that scientists in North Carolina had created a "fully living dinosaur embryo" using chicken DNA. The story featured made-up personnel, including a fictional molecular biologist named Linda Rushmore. It was accompanied by an image of a University of Washington professor, presented as a French bioethicist. The article recycled a screenshot from the original satirical piece, which was shared on Facebook in 2020.
While the 2016 story was fake, some sources in 2018 reported that scientists had indeed recreated dinosaur embryos using chicken DNA, resulting in a hybrid between T-Rex and chicken. Researchers at North Carolina State University allegedly used a 68-million-year-old DNA sample from a pregnant Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil, transplanting it into a chicken's skin cell, given their close relation. Helmut Hans Fraser, a molecular biologist, confirmed that the embryo was not entirely a dinosaur but a hybrid.
This development excited some scientists, while others considered it "inhuman and dangerous." Critics questioned the ethics of regenerating an enormous, potentially harmful creature and the risks of altering the genetic traits of chickens if such a creature were to mate with them.
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Chicken embryos have been manipulated to grow dinosaur-like snouts
In 2015, a team of Yale and Harvard scientists manipulated chicken embryos to grow snouts resembling those of dinosaurs. The goal of the study was to understand the molecular underpinnings of an important evolutionary transition: how beaks appeared as dinosaurs evolved into birds around 150 million years ago. Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, a paleontologist and developmental biologist at Yale, stated that the intention was not to create a 'dino-chicken' but to understand the evolutionary transition better.
The research team gathered DNA samples from various animals, including emus, alligators, and turtles, and found that two proteins, FGF and Wnt, were expressed differently in birds and reptiles. By blocking these proteins in the chicken embryos, the scientists produced a snout similar to those of small dinosaurs like the Velociraptor and Archaeopteryx.
This study is an example of reverse engineering, where modern bird genes are re-activated to display dinosaur traits. While it is not possible to reproduce a complete dinosaur from missing DNA samples, scientists have experimented with implanting dinosaur DNA into chicken skin cells to create hybrid embryos. These embryos are not entirely dinosaurs but are genetically modified hybrids between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chicken.
Reports of a fully living dinosaur embryo created using chicken DNA have been deemed false and fake news. The original story, published in 2016, was a satire article that included fabricated sources and images. While T-rex and chickens do share genetic similarities, no such hybrid embryo has been successfully created.
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Frequently asked questions
No, this is fake news. While scientists have manipulated chicken embryos to grow dinosaur-like snouts, they have not created a T-Rex from a chicken embryo.
In 2016, a satire website called World News Daily Report published a story claiming that scientists in North Carolina had created "the first fully living dinosaur embryo in millions of years" using DNA from chicken skin. The story was accompanied by a photo of a University of Washington associate professor, falsely identified as a French bioethicist.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences debunked the story in 2016, calling it a "complete fabrication." The lab that was mentioned in the story is real and led by Dr. Lindsay Zanno, who is an associate professor at NCSU – not Linda Rushmore, the made-up researcher from the satire article.
