We’ve all dreamed it. Dinosaurs walking among us, their roars and stomps echoing through futuristic theme parks. For over 30 years, the Jurᴀssic Park and Jurᴀssic World franchises have made that fantasy feel close to reality on the big screen. But according to real-world scientists working on actual de-extinction, one crucial detail will forever keep dinosaurs in the realm of science fiction: you can’t bring back what has no usable DNA.
That’s the central message of a new video from Colossal Biosciences tied to the release of Jurᴀssic World Rebirth. The short, тιтled De-Extinction 101, directly tackles the myths Hollywood helped popularize and sets the record straight while promoting the stark differences between the in-film science organizations (and their motives) and what’s happening in the real world.
As in the case of the previous Jurᴀssic movies, the newest film from director Gareth Edwards is predicated on the idea that once-extinct dinosaurs were brought back to life in the modern day. In the time period Jurᴀssic World Rebirth is set, these dinosaurs have been around for a while, and the story chronicles the story of a group of mercenaries and a scientist sent to extract dinosaur DNA in order to make medical advancements.
The Colossal Biosciences video breaks down the viability of this de-extinction process and emphasizes one unfortunate conclusion: the de-extinction of dinosaurs is not possible. There is simply no viable dinosaur DNA in existence, despite the persistence of fossils.
“There’s no DNA in mosquitos in amber.”
Scientist Beth Shapiro explains that amber only exists in extremely H๏τ environments, which actually speeds up the decay of DNA. The material is also porous, allowing for bacteria to enter and break down the DNA. The video also noted that dinosaurs were extinct for 66 million years, but ancient DNA extraction can only go back 1.2 million years.
Jurᴀssic Park vs. Real Life Science
Dinosaurs Cannot Come Back To Life
In Jurᴀssic Park, amber plays a critical role in the original extraction of dinosaur DNA. As per the lore of the original Michael Crichton novel and Steven Spielberg’s legendary film adaptation, DNA remained in mosquitoes trapped in amber, which originally feasted on dinosaur blood. This allows the dinosaurs to be brought back to life through genetic engineering.
In the films, frog DNA was used to complete the puzzle, and in real-life, this process isn’t too far off how Colossal Biosciences is working to revive the Dire Wolf, Woolly Mammoth, the Giant Moa, and other extinct species. They work to completing DNA strands using the closest living relatives, and then finding an appropriate surrogate.
“Just like the expedition in Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, we at Colossal are on our own expedition—to rescue DNA, to revive species, and restore not just lives, but the planet.”
The amber is a decently believable sci-fi justification for this de-extinction method, allowing Jurᴀssic Park and Jurᴀssic World Rebirth to justify the foundation of their plot. As in the case of many genre films, however, the specifics don’t align with real science.
“At the end of the day, de-extinction is a tool to rebuild extinct species for the present, to restore important components of ecosystems, and while doing so, make incredible discoveries that help current endangered species survive and thrive.”
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“We don’t have a genetic testing lab on a secret island with the ethically corrosive capitalistic intent of creating flesh-eating dinosaurs,” the narrator explains when comparing the film franchise’s InGen scientists to the real-world Colossal Biosciences.
Colossal’s research is proof that science-fiction movies like Jurᴀssic World Rebirth are best enjoyed when treated as science finction entertainment as intended. While a real-life dinosaur amusement park is not happening any time soon, it is still fun to see this logic play out on the big screen.
Given the impossibility of the main hook that spawned the franchise, it is most important that the Jurᴀssic movies stay consistent with their own internal logic. Jurᴀssic World Rebirth has set things on a good path by continuing to ᴀssert dinosaur DNA as tantamount.
Source: Colossal Biosciences
