The international symposium "Chinese Dinosaurs: From Scientific Research and Exploration to Science Education" opened in Shanghai on October 28. More than 20 of the world's top paleontologists gathered together to discuss cutting-edge breakthroughs and future development paths in paleontology.Xu Xing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed at the meeting that with the continuous advancement of science and technology, it may be possible for humans to "create" living dinosaurs in the future.
Xu Xing pointed out that dinosaur restoration technology has made significant progress. Scientists were able to reconstruct the shape of dinosaurs relatively accurately in the early days. Now they have gone a step further and can reconstruct their appearance with a high degree of accuracy based on solid scientific evidence. For example, the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossils and the restoration of the surface colors of some dinosaurs relied on systematic research methods and scientific data, reflecting that restoration technology is becoming increasingly precise with the development of scientific methods.
"On this basis, how to 'resurrect' dinosaurs has become a more challenging issue." Xu Xing explained that the currently well-known technical path to resurrecting dinosaurs through DNA is actually difficult to achieve.
Research shows that ancient DNA can only be preserved for a limited geological time, and no ancient DNA has been found in dinosaur fossils. Although some scholars have identified protein fragments in fossils, relying on the information carried by these fragments to resurrect dinosaurs still faces huge difficulties in terms of data volume and technological maturity.
However,Xu Xing emphasized that science advances amidst challenges. More and more researchers are trying to use cutting-edge technologies such as synthetic biology, gene editing, and developmental biology to explore the possibility of "making" dinosaurs.He believes that based on scientifically accurate restoration and combined with modern biotechnology, humans may actually be able to create "living" dinosaurs in the future. Such "manufactured" dinosaurs may not be exactly the same as ancient species, but they may be highly similar in appearance and behavior.
"In one hundred or two hundred years, if there are creatures similar to Tyrannosaurus rex on the earth, I don't think I will be surprised." Xu Xing looks forward to this.
