Researchers led by Joâo Botelho from the University of Chile decided to investigate how this transition from a long, tubular fibula in dinosaurs to a short, splinter-like fibula in birds actually came to be.
When the Indian Hedgehog gene was turned off, the calcaneum strongly expresses the gene Parathyroid-related protein (PthrP), which allows for growth at the ends of bones. This caused their chickens to grow long fibulae that connected with the ankle, just like they would in the Archaeopteryx.
source
http://www.disclose.tv/news/woah_scientists_have_grown_dinosaur_legs_on_a_chicken_for_the_first_time/129028
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