Jurassic Park Revisited

Let's move on to a remarkable story that has astonished readers almost everywhere they've read about it.

This is due to the fact that scientists in the United States have discovered the very first instance of a crocodile who became pregnant and gave birth to a fetus with 99 DNA matches to herself.

The egg-laying crocodile has been kept apart from other crocodiles all of its life. The occurrence is known as a virgin birth.

Warren Booth graduated from Virginia Tech. He is a researcher who contributed to this study.

Kamlesh: This story is mind-boggling, so thank you so much for being on the program. How is the obvious inquiry.

W.B.: uh that is an incredible inquiry we're actually managing the instruments that drive it yet we comprehend to the point that it's a cycle called programmed terminal Combination where the egg basically melds with a result of egg development that causes it to feel that it became prepared. The least amount of progress. The main problem with it is that the offspring that is produced is not a clone of the mother; rather, it is essentially a half-clone because the set of chromosomes from the egg have fused with another set that is almost identical to it. This is the main problem with it. Because of this, they are extremely unbred, and frequently, they do not perform well.

Kamlesh: In a moment or two, I'll return to the egg and what you discovered. However, as I read that line, you are absolutely certain that this crocodile was kept apart from other crocodiles. Even if you weren't with other men, are you healthy?

W.B.: The DNA demonstrates that there was no male involvement in the production of The Offspring. So basically, we sequenced the crocodile genome and the parthenogen genome, but we couldn't find any evidence that a male contributed to the offspring. However, we do know that that animal was isolated for 18 years and that it was the cause of this.

Kamlesh: I mean, we said that it was a first there in the introduction. Does this actually occur with any other species?

W.B.: It is pretty common. In the last ten years, we have really begun to realize how prevalent it is among a particular group of organisms. For instance, it has been penalized in a number of shark species. In my research group and with collaborators, we have documented it in a variety of snakes, including king cobras, reticulated pythons, and boa constrictors. Additionally, it occurs in birds and a variety of lizard species. The fact that they all employ the same parthenogenesis mechanism is also interesting. Parthenogenesis is a seriously different arrangement of systems that can be utilized and they're all utilizing a similar component so it proposes that that quality is something extremely hereditary, not something that has developed in those various genealogies and what's cool about that is where that then, at that point, drives us to have the option to make derivation about different creatures that are not terminated.

Kamlesh: Because scientists believe that the trait may have been inherited from an evolutionary ancestor, as you state and I read here. This means that dinosaurs may have also been capable of reproducing themselves.

W.B.: Yes, because birds and crocodiles are both members of the archosaur group. Between those two groups and this lineage are the pterosaurs and dinosaurs, so if birds and crocodiles can do it, they use the same mechanism. Reptiles and lizards that came before the crocodiles also use the same mechanism. Then, it strongly suggests that pterosaurs and dinosaurs can also produce partners genetically.

Kamlesh: Why has this not been noticed for decades while we are just now discovering it?

W.B.: One reason, in my opinion, is that we can now test these with relative ease. We have the technology and the bioinformatic software to be able to analyze DNA in a very effective and conclusive manner, so sequencing DNA is no longer a difficult process. Another factor is that it has only recently come to people's attention due to the high profile of a number of studies that have been published in the past ten to twelve years. Since many years ago, our research on copperheads and boa constrictors has spread worldwide. Since then, we've received an abundance of potential examples from a wide range of reptile species. Additionally, a paper on California condors, another well-known species, was published in King County or Um. As a result, I believe it has been occurring even though people have not been aware of it for just 20 seconds.

Kamlesh: If you could briefly describe the egg that was produced here, I would appreciate it.

W.B.: It was one of a small clutch of eggs that were laid whenever the nest was excavated. Because the female was being aggressive around the nest, seven of them appear to be fertile and were incubated. When they opened one of those eggs, it never hatched but contained an American crocodile fetus that had died.

Kamlesh: Warren Booth, thanks for joining us live on the program. Your story is jaw-droppingly amazing, and it was a pleasure to speak with you.