Discovery of preserved dinosaur tail shows law, bioethics must keep up with scientific advancements, professor says

LAWRENCE — Researchers announced last week they had discovered the tail of a baby dinosaur preserved in amber. The specimen, which contains feathers of a coelurosaur, is about 99 million years old and is the first still containing feathers to be discovered. The find is considered a major step forward in paleontology and has opened numerous questions about dinosaurs, preservation and related topics.

Andrew Torrance, Earl B. Schurtz Research Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, is available to talk with media about the find, what it means for biology, synthetic biology, the possibility of de-extinction, implications for law and similar topics. Torrance has advised international bodies on laws to regulate de-extinction, or the controversial science of reviving once-extinct species, and has published research on synthetic biology. While it’s not likely that dinosaurs will be revived in the foreseeable future, and especially not from the recent find, it is possible that more recently extinct species such as saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths and passenger pigeons (or reasonable genetic reconstructions thereof) could once again roam the earth and fill the skies.

Were that to happen there would be numerous legal questions that need to be addressed.

“The science is advancing at an astonishing pace”, said Torrance, who holds a doctorate in biology and law degree from Harvard University, “Even faster, in some respects, than portrayed by Hollywood. Law, bioethics and policy must race to keep up, and, if possible, get ahead, so that the decisions humanity makes on reviving extinct species are wise and proactive, not rash, rushed and reactive.”

Torrance and colleagues are authoring scholarly articles and policy recommendations regarding the topics for consideration by lawmakers.

To schedule an interview with Torrance, contact Mike Krings at 785-864-8860 or mkrings@ku.edu.