How to make a chickenosaurus: Paleontologist Jack Horner spoke about his methods during a talk at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.Courtesy Mark RyanDinosaur expert, Jack Horner, was in the Twin Cities this week for a very interesting talk at Macalester College on his investigations into creating a dinosaur through manipulation of the chicken genome. His research involves switching on evolutionary carryover genes that lay dormant in the chicken's gene sequence, such as teeth or a long reptilian tail. He's had some success but is still a long way off from unleashing a Chickenosaurus on the world. When asked why chickens when a bigger bird like an ostrich would make for a cooler and much larger dinosaur, the Museum of the Rockies paleontologist answered that the chicken genome already exists, chickens are cheap, and there are simply just more of them. Afterwards, Horner signed copies of his book, How to Build a Dinosaur for students and the public.

LINKS
Horner's TEDTALK on subject
Wired magazine interview
Jack Horner's Wikipedia listing