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Show A4 __TheSaltUTAH/WORLDNovember 18, 1994 = “People have to DNA Of Dinosaur “We havenot yet been able to ed to birds orto reptiles,’ which is a major controversy among paleontologists, said Woodward, 38, an associate professor of microbiology. Scientists elsewhere previously extracted 120-million-year-old DNA froma weevil preservedina piece of amber in Lebanon. The DNA studied by Woodward is 80 million to 85 million years old — the oldest ever found from creature with a backbone. The DNA was extracted from two 8-inch-long bone fragments found in June 1993 at a depth of 2,000 feet in Utah Fuel Co.'s Skyline MineNo.3 near Scofield,said Bunnell, a friend of Woodward's since they attended Mont Harmon Junior High Schoolin Price. Bunnell, 38, said he watched searchers who are trying late dinosaur DNA, but w publish their findings unti are sure, said Kevin Padian leontologist at the Universi California, Berkeley. Padian called BYU's evidence plausible, not conclusive. He said Woodward acted responsibly by submitting his study to Science for review by his peers before announcing the results. for bones at Woodward's request The discovery invokes the plot of the MichaelCrichton novel Jurassic Park andits film adaptation, in whichscientists re-created dinosaurs with DNA extracted from the body of a preserved mosquito that had sucked dinosaur blood. Scientists agreed that creating a dinosaurfrom the DNAis impossible. The longest fragment contains only 174 “base pairs” of the amino acids that make up DNA. Woodwardsaid a dinosaur’s entire genetic blueprint contains about4 billion base pairs. Evenif researchers had the entire blueprint, moderntechnology is incapable of using DNAto recreate a dinosaur or any other creature. “Jurassic Park is a myth, and people have to understandit is not even remotely a possibility to actually re-create a fossil organism,” said Joel Cracraft, curator of ornithology at New YorkCity’s American Museum of Natural History. Woodward believes the bones and DNA camefrom one or two dinosaurs for circumstantial reasons: ™@ Theywerefound just above a coal bedin river-deposited sandstone that wasreliably dated to 80 million to 85 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs roamed Utah. @ Thebonefragments are fairly big, and “the large animals that were around 80 million years ago happened to be dinosaurs,’ Woodwardsaid tic trash bags. They are draped and strapped down all over campus, covering the cougarstatue in front of the football stadium, the block Y at a university entrance, and practically every other landmark that BYUofficials do not want painted red by marauding Ute fans. Across the Glad-bagged campus, talk of Saturday’s football game, the 70th meeting between the schools, is pervasive. It does not take long to uncover andrecognize the fuel on whichthis rivalry burns. “We're going to kick their butts, like we usually do,” says Vaughn Schmutz, 18, a freshman from Provo,whois eating lunch at the Cougareat, a food court in BYU’s student building. “Lenny Gomes is a friend of mine. I’m sure he would agree.” Gomes, you might remember,is the former Cougardefensivelinemanwho,afterlast year’s Ute vic- Cracraft said other creatures “could have been around thereat that time with big bones: big land birds, crocodiles. some other big lizards that were not dinosaurs.” Nevertheless. Cracraft said the DNA“is probablydinosaur.” Montana State University ontologist John R. “Jac said his laboratory foundsigns of dinosaur DNAtwo years ago in a Tyrannosaurus rex bone. but did not publish the discovery because “we haven't proved it The sameis true of oth answer the question of whether dinosaurs are moreclosely relat- bogs that create coal also protect @ Continued from A-1 re-create a fossil @ Continued from A-1 organic material like DNA from being destroyed by oxygen, Woodwardsaid. “The fact DNA could be preserved for millions of years was incredible to me,” Bunnell said. “I’m surprised we found bone at all. If it hadn't been for an observant foreman, we wouldn't have foundit.” JOEL CRACRAFT American Museumof Natural History remotely a possibility to Found in Rock because the BYUscientist had a “far-fetched” theory — which proved correct — that bones in coal beds might notbefossilized, a process that destroys DNA and otherorganic chemicals. The peat organism.”? U.vs. BYU: No Absence Of Malice understandit is not even tory, insulted Utah players by “Peer review says people can't find an amazing flaw” in Wood- ward's study, Padian said. “Butit doesn’t mean he’sright, ... Science probably is publishing this becauseit’s controversial, exciting,it’s a first and it should be out there so people can talk aboutthe issue.” Raul Cano, a molecular evolutionist at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, said Woodward's study “‘is not a convincing argument” and the DNAcould have comefrom bacteria or other microbes that contaminated the bone. Cracraft called that unlikely, saying Woodward “is a careful lab person.” Woodward said the DNA “is much more closelyrelated to animal DNA thanto microbial DNA” — evidence the bonewasnotcontaminated. Hesaid his discovery suggests it might be possible to isolate DNA that is in better shape from other dinosaur bones, then useit to determine how dinosaurs were related to birds andreptiles. Cracraft said he doubtedscientists ever would isolate pieces of dinosaur DNAbig enough andadequately preserved to answer such questions. “This study showsthe possibili- ty of getting an entire gene froma dinosaur is almost hopeless, the DNAis so degraded,” Cracraft said. “I don’t believe there are many fundamentalquestions that are going to be answered bythis line of work.” Woodward is a Utah State University graduate who previously worked at the University of Utah, wherehe helped searchfor genes that cause cystic fibrosis and colon cancer. At BYU, he normally studies DNAfrom 2,000 to 12,000-yearold Egyptian and South American mummies and other ancient remains, including an 11,000-year- old mammoth.Heis in Provothis week but lives in Jerusalem, whereheis a scholarin residence at BYU's Jerusalem Center for NearEastern Studies. Lynn R. Johnson/TheSalt Lake Tribune John R. “Jack” Horner spoke to a packed Utah audience. T. Rex: Scientist Claims It Was a Wimp @ Continued from A-1 A college dropout due to dyslexia, a learning disability, Horner dug up countless dinosaurs in his native Montana, got an honorary doctorate, wrote several dinosaur books, was the inspiration for scientist Alan Grant — the main character in Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park — and servedasthehit film’s technical adviser. Horner said director Steven Spielberg usually listened to his advice, but not always. “I may know a lot more about dinosaurs, but Spielberg thinks he knowsa lot more about making a movie.” Hornersaid that when he told Spielberg, “I don’t think Tyrannosaurusrex could dothat,” the director sometimes replied, ‘'I don’t care what you think.” Only four years ago; Horner still viewed T. rex as a ferocious killer. “Almost every picture you ever see of Tyrannosaurus rex, it’s only doing onething:tryingto kill somethingelse,” he said. “A Tyrannosaurus is best known, of course, for its mouth ... a whole mouthfulof sharp teeth.” People naturally thought that “if you have a mouthfulof steak knives, you eat steak.” Broken T. rex teeth, gouges and punctures foundinfossils of other dinosaurs supported the view T. rex ate meat, but not that it killed it, Hornersaid. Theproblem is T. rex had “tiny Hormonal Drugs Drawing Praise Therapy for Women Also Found To Protect Against Heart Disease By Patricia Anstett KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE. DALLAS — Doctors hada clear take-home message Thursday to American women atmidlife: Consider taking hormones to protect yourself against heart disease. “Every woman should consider hormone-replacement therapy,” said Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, professor and chairwoman of Family and Preventive Medicineat the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine Barrett-Connor,speaking at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting, presented prelimi- nary data from a landmark, three-year, federally funded study of menopausal hormones. As America’s population ages — 60 million women will be 45 or older by 2000 — more womenarelooking for ways to stay healthy longer. Hormone-rePlacement drugs relieve menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and mood swings, but they also are believed to have other benefits — preventing heart disease and the brittle-bone disease osteoporosis. The preliminary data reported Thursday provide the best answers yet about those other effects, though questions about long-term cancerrisks will remain unansweredforat least another decade. Thepreliminary findings have been eagerly await- ed, because the hormonal regimens favored in the United States — usually estrogen-progestin combinations — havenot beenwell studied. While estrogen is widely believed to help protect against heart disease — the No.1 killer of women — researchers had no substantial proof whether adding progestins would reduce or even cancel out those benefits. Estrogen-only therapy is not suitable for most women because it is thoughtto increase the risk of some cancers. But the new study found that all hormonal regimens lowered a woman’s risk of developing heart disease.It is the first large study to makethatfind- ing. Onebig surprise was that one specific combination — estrogen and micronized, or natural, progester- ' )— one, a therapynot widely used in America — confers almosttwice the protection against heart disease as other typesof estrogen-progestin combinations. Progestin is a synthetic version of progesterone, a naturally occurring substance foundin the body as well asin plants. In othersignificant findings: @ Womendonot gain weight as a result of menopausal hormones. Weight gain comeswith age. @ Most women needto take combinations of estrogen and progesterone, because one-third of the womenwhotook estrogenalone developed endometrial hyperplasia, a precancerouscondition in the lining of the uterus. @ Menopausal hormonesdo notraise blood pressure, a previous concern. ™@ Forthe period of the study, researchers found no unusualrates of cancer,including endometrial or breast tumors, in any women taking hormones. Data on osteoporosis and other health effects will be released later, researchers said. “The results of this landmark study provide the best available guide for post-menopausal women and their physicians as they seek safe hormonalregimensthatwill improve their heart-disease risk factors,”’ said Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung and BloodInstitute, the primary sponsor of the $22 million study. Thestudy followed 875 women,ages 45-64, at seven medical centers. Four groups received hormones — either estrogen-only therapy or estrogen in various combinations with progestin or natural progesterone. A fifth group received a placebo. The estrogen patch wasnottested. The micronized progesterone used in the study is madeby Schering-Plough Inc. and is more common in Europe.It can be obtained without prescription in the United States through drug and pharmaceutical supply stores, but Barrett-Connorsaid it's so new that most U.S. doctors don’t recommendit. The dosagein the study was 200 milligrams taken for 12 days each month, with an estrogen pill. It is sold in capsules and tablets that are placed underthe tongue. Barrett-Connor urged furtherstudies of the drug, which is derived from sweet potatoes or yams. Women whose treatmentgave the greatest heart benefit were those who took estrogen alone,or estrogen and the natural progesterone. little arms,” which Horner said were “exactly the same length as mine” and could lift no more than 410 pounds. “Tyrannosaurus rex couldn’t putit’s little hands together,” he added. “It couldn’t clap. ... It could scratchits belly after a good meal, but that’s all it could do. .. . Armsare very importantto predators. Tyrannosaurus had arms but they wereuseless.” The dinosauralso hadthigh and shin bones equalin length, so it lacked leverage to runfast. “Here we have an animal that couldn’t catch anything, and even if it could,it couldn’t get there in time,” said Horner. T. rex had “beadylittle eyes” so it could not see well enough to be a hunter,but had a hugeolfactory lobe — great for smelling dead meat, Horner said. Andreplaceable teeth from Tyrannosaurus rex are found in bone beds where thousandsof migrating, plant-eating duckbill and horned dinosaurs died during floods or droughts,indicating the giant creature was an opportunis- tie scavenger. Cracraft said that while anatomysuggests T. rex was nota fullblown predator, Horner‘doesn’t lookat all the evidence.” T. rex teeth have been found embedded in otherT.rex fossils, so “they fought with each other. That suggests ferociousness is there,” Cracraft said Thursday from New York. While the dinosaur wasnotthe fastest of animals, “‘it could outrun a lot of creatures around at the time,” he added. Horner acknowledged Tyrannosauruses fought eachother,but heinsists they were scavengers — just as humansare. “We happen to be very good scavengers,” hesaid. ‘Wejust get oursat the store, all wrapped up Tealnice.” sayingthe loss was no big deal because the Utes after graduation “will be pumping my gas.” Sitting next to Schmutz, freshman Mike Henstrom of Provo puts his spin on the rivalry: “People hereare intense aboutit, but it’s not so much hatred for Utah because, well, we know we're going to win. It’s kind of hard with us beingthe bestall the time.” A few tables over, Burbidge, Tim Hall and Andy Armstrongexplain the subtle differences in perspective between BYU and Utah fans, some of which have nothing to do with football, butall of whichplay heavily into the rivalry. “They look at us as being Mormon geeks,” says Burbidge of Sandy. “We're notas cool as they are. They think we somehow lose our identity by cominghere. That we all wear pocket protectors. They think we're self-righteous. Becauseofthat, they hate us.” “BYU is known for its high standards,” says Hall. ‘We're supposedly goody-goodies. The University of Utah wants to be the opposite, they want to be rebels andpartyers. Thatfires up therivalry. Adds Armstrong: “I went to a game at Utah once with a blue BYU hat on. Utah fans were throwing stuff at me — beer bottles, snowballs. It was unbelievable. Ute fans are violent. BYU oo generally speaking,are paci‘ists. “A major difference between us is we don’t hate Utah, but they hate us.” Such sentiments disturb some Utah fans, who say they are condescending — as though BYU thinks the Utes are not worth hating. Alabama and Auburn hate each other. So do USC and UCLA, and Oklahoma and Nebraska. What's with BYU? “They think they are better than Utah, they have that whole attitude,” says Maughan, whois sitting with his fraternity brothers at a lunchtablein the U.’s student union. “Sure, we view them as nerds, but they view us as a bunch of druggies and drunks. They think everything at BYU is great, everything here is bad. That’s crap.” Adds ShaneKirk, a 22-year-old communications major from Salt Lake: “Year after year, all we'd hear was BYUthis, BYU that. They don’t think we can compete at their level. This is about respect. We live and die to beat BYU.” This desperate stand can be traced,in part, to BYU’s dominationin the series since LaVell Edwards took overas coachin 1972. The Cougars are 19-3 during his tenure. Moreover, Utah fans have beenforcedto sit and watch,like: some forgotten, twisted sister, while BYU has gained national respect and prominence under Edwards. Ty Bronicel, sports editor for Utah’s student newspaper, The Daily Utah Chronicle, says Utah fans have become morerabid as the Utes have closed the competitive gap in recentyears. “Before, we were resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t win,” he says. ‘After winning last year, and [the success] this season, Utah has something to give BYU flak about. “Nationally, people talk about Notre Dame-Florida State and other rivalries, but Utah-BYU is justas intense. It runs so deep becauseit includes morethan football. It includes religion, ways of life, different college experiences. They may look downat us, but, to a lot of people here, BYU is unique. Their code of ethics seems completely out of whack with what college should be.” The differences — atleast the stereotypical differences — stoke the competition. Tom Kotter, a seniorpoliticalscience student at Utah, says the stereotypes — that BYU students are smug andself-righteous and that Utah students are raucous liberals — dumpfuelon thefire, but are more myththan truth. “Look, there area lot of people at BYU who I wouldn't want to hang out with, but you could say the same thing about people here,” he says. “There's a lot of animosity in the rivalry that really doesn’t exist. “Butit sure makesit fun.” If a football rivalry feeds off hatred and sanctimony, real or imagined, BYU-Utah is a realgas. Prince Meets Argentine War Vets THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PUERTO BELGRANO NAVALBASE, Argentina — Twelve years after serving in the Falklands War,Britain’s Prince Andrew cameface to face with Argentine veterans on a Thursday trip aimedat healing the wounds of the conflict. In full Royal Navy uniform for thefirst time on his four-dayvisit and wearing a Falklands medal for wartimeservice as a helicopter pilot, the prince metfellow pilots, sailors and officers at Argen- tina’s largest navalbase. Departing from his tight schedule, the prince also paid brief homage at a monumentto 326 Argentine sailors who died when a British submarine torpedoed the cruiser ARA GeneralBelgranoin the 1982 war. Ireland’s Premier Leaves Office Under Duress LOS ANGELES TIMES LONDON — In a dramatic move,Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigned in Dublin on Thursday after a fractious five days during whichhis coalition governmentfell apart. Facing a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Reynolds also said he will step down as head of the leading Fianna Fail party. Deputy Prime Minister Dick Spring hadled his Labor Party outof Ireland’s governing coalition Wednesday in a dispute over a judicial appointment. Reynolds said he would recommend to President Mary Robinson that Parliament not be dissolved, because that would mean new national elections. Ireland will be left rudderless while the major parties now explore ways to form a co‘The Associated Prese alition that could win a parliamentary majority. Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynoldsis stepping down. Reynolds’ move came just a few weeks beforeall-party talks tained that the move toward threat from any Republican elewere expected to begin in quest peace in'the troubled province ment,” he responded, sayi of a solution to the dispute over is “bigger than Mr. Reynolds.” that he is “willing to work with Adams added: “There is an whoeveris in power”in Dublin. British rule in Northern Ire_ Though praised for his work land, where a cease-fire recent- onus on the political parties to Ids ly ended 25 years of sectarian ensure a government is re- in the peaceApt formed orre-elected as gaeckly had comeunderfire for his hanviolence. as possible, because anydistracdling of a recentpolitical crisis, Gerry Adams,headof the potion from the peace process can and most observers said he was litical arm of the province’s outto defuse the momentum liamentary lawed Irish Republican Army, help which has been built up.” appeared in London on ThursAppearing at a news conferday for the first time since the ence in a par! ice, foreing through the appointBritish government last month Adamswas asked whe the mentof former Atty. Gen. Harlifted a ban on his presence, and 7, Whelehan as presidentof the he complimented Reynolds for igh Court despite the objecPlaying a leading role in the political crisis. I don't see the tions of Spring's Labor partPeace process. But he main- peace process being under any ners. 7 t |
