The original Jurassic Park is a timeless movie filled with fantastical science fiction, but it needs a major science fact check. Can amber really preserve dinosaur DNA to survive through time? Whether it is pure fiction or is based in truth, the question has become a central vexation to fans of the Universal Studios dinosaur epic that has spawned an expansive franchise.
Considered a gargantuan classic of the twentieth century, Jurassic Park was directed by Steven Spielberg for release in the summer of 1993. Jurassic Park, an adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, suggests that scientists found fragmented dinosaur DNA and successfully filled in the genetic holes with frog DNA. The intrepid John Hammond used this technology to open Jurassic Park, an ambitious theme park where dinosaurs are the main attraction. Jurrasic Park was intent on emphasizing real-world science and enabling the idea to seem feasible.
While it might come as a disappointment for those hoping to reenact Jurassic Park, dinosaur genes confined in amber could not actually survive to the present day. Famously, the film illustrated the concept of dinosaur blood trapped inside hardened fossilized tree resin (amber), which remained viable for analysis and reproduction over millions of years. In reality, the blood and tissue of a once-living creature are not able to remain intact for millions of years inside amber, meaning there would be no viable DNA to study. While it might be a nice idea, the preserving properties of amber have their limits, and DNA would not be able to survive even in a partially broken down form as with Jurassic Park. So while the concept of cloning an animal from DNA is feasible and might appear to mean that Jurassic Park‘s dinosaur experiment makes sense, the inability to find DNA preserved in amber means that John Hammond would not have been able to bring back extinct dinosaurs in this way in Jurassic Park.
The high-concept idea for dinosaur cloning shown in Jurassic Park was based around an extensive and convincing-looking laboratory with full explanations of genetic science. This enabled audiences to buy the story of DNA in amber as realistic and it became believed by many. A generation of fans grew up accepting Jurassic Park was based in science that was only the right discovery away from being real. However, as convincing as the argument put forward in Jurassic Park might be about dinosaur DNA and the plausibility of life being preserved in amber, there is little hope left for diehards of Spielberg’s giant dinosaur feature to truly be able to revive an extinct species in this way.
While a mosquito trapped in amber would not be a viable source for dinosaur DNA, there have been a couple of brief glimmers of hope for fans of bringing back deadly creatures from extinction. In one instance, preserved insect blood was found in ancient lake sediment rather than amber. According to this real-life study of the insect from the Eocene epoch, scientists saw red pigment in its abdomen. What remained inside the insect were the breakdown products of hemoglobin, proteins found in all vertebrates. Similarly, in another important paleontological discovery, red blood cells were extracted from a fossilized dinosaur bone derived from the Cretaceous period. Unfortunately, it is important to remember that blood does not necessarily equate to DNA when viewed on this massive of a timescale. DNA breaks down quickly and is highly vulnerable to time. Without the DNA, the science that Jurassic Park suggests is real can never actually be a reality. It seems that the franchise will not move away from this element of science fiction anytime soon as the idea of dinosaurs beginning as a science experiment is referenced in the amber-hued poster for the anticipated 2022 sequel Jurassic World: Dominion. Fact-checking Jurassic Park proves that prehistoric amber is not the best vessel for genetic preservation and could not keep dinosaur DNA intact over millennia, and it seems unlikely that anything could have coincidentally preserved that DNA over such an extensive time span. As strange as it sounds, the legendary rumor is likely to stay within the public sphere of consciousness for years to come, despite the fact that the Jurassic Park franchise is fundamentally built upon an untenable dream.
