Jurassic Science

[AV1611VET]

Just out of curiosity, how accurate was the science in Jurassic Park?

Can you extract the DNA of a dinosaur and build a theme park?

 

[eclipsenow]

Really? Is this just another angle to get a creationist rant started? "But of course you can, because the DNA only has to survive 6000 years?" Blargh! Count me out of this one. Have fun though; just don't think you're going to get any Theistic Evolutionists all fired up about discovering 65 MILLION year old DNA, or even get us considering the possibility that maybe we're wrong, and just maybe the poetic creative metaphors of early Genesis are literal. They're not.

 

[AV1611VET]

Really? Is this just another angle to get a creationist rant started? "But of course you can, because the DNA only has to survive 6000 years?" Blargh! Count me out of this one. Have fun though; just don't think you're going to get any Theistic Evolutionists all fired up about discovering 65 MILLION year old DNA, or even get us considering the possibility that maybe we're wrong, and just maybe the poetic creative metaphors of early Genesis are literal. They're not.

-- What?

 

[RC1970]

Count me out of this one.

It seems like you've counted yourself into it.

 

[crjmurray]

Just out of curiosity, how accurate was the science in Jurassic Park?

Can you extract the DNA of a dinosaur and build a theme park?

The SPAS-12 and various AR models Muldoon had in that bunker would have been terrible choices for taking down dinosaurs. That's as much as I know.

 

[AV1611VET]

The SPAS-12 and various AR models Muldoon had in that bunker would have been terrible choices for taking down dinosaurs. That's as much as I know.

Was he the guy that got eaten in that jeep, trying to slip something out in a shaving can?

 

[crjmurray]

Was he the guy that got eaten in that jeep, trying to slip something out in a shaving can?

No that was Dennis Nedry. Muldoon was the guy that got ambushed by a raptor. Clever girl.....

 

[AV1611VET]

No that was Dennis Nedry. Muldoon was the guy that got ambushed by a raptor. Clever girl.....

Okay, thanks.

It's been ages since I saw that movie.

 

[crjmurray]

Okay, thanks.

It's been ages since I saw that movie.

It was my favorite movie as a kid. I can probably remember the majority of the character names.

 

[AV1611VET]

It was my favorite movie as a kid. I can probably remember the majority of the character names.

I still know every actor on LOST IN SPACE, their real names, and their names in the show.

(Minus the guest stars, that is.)

 

[crjmurray]

I still know every actor on LOST IN SPACE, their real names, and their names in the show.

(Minus the guest stars, that is.)

Nice.

 

[GrowingSmaller]

OK Ill bite.

 

[eclipsenow]

I still know every actor on LOST IN SPACE, their real names, and their names in the show.

(Minus the guest stars, that is.)

I guess it's wonderfully informative posts like this one, in wonderfully fact filled threads like this one, that got your post-count so high? OK. It's all so clear now.

 

[AV1611VET]

... in wonderfully fact filled threads like this one, ...

This thread is not "fact filled."

I'm giving scientists the chance to do so, and it seem that's the least thing on their minds, doesn't it?

Don't take the innocency of this thread for granted, it reveals more about Internet scientists than you think.

Feel free to make a scientific contribution here.

 

[Heissonear]

In some fields of science the majority of true science and scientists in that science field have moved to the Internet and science is displayed real time.

The rampant bias in select science and academic fields have created pollution, propaganda, and lack of tolerance of opposing views that bear truth.

Heterodox Academy

"We are social scientists and other scholars who want to improve our academic disciplines. We have all written about a particular problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” It’s what happens when everyone in a field shares the same political orientation and certain ideas become orthodoxy. "

Source: http://heterodoxacademy.org

 

[gord44]

The SPAS-12 and various AR models Muldoon had in that bunker would have been terrible choices for taking down dinosaurs. That's as much as I know.

Shoooo TA!!!! SHOOOOOOO TAAAA!

 

[florida2]

Just out of curiosity, how accurate was the science in Jurassic Park?

Can you extract the DNA of a dinosaur and build a theme park?

Interesting question.

In short, no. It's simply not possible for DNA, or enough DNA, to survive long enough.

DNA has a half life of 521 years, meaning that if something died 521 years ago only half of its DNA would now be left. If you came back in another 521 years only a quarter of the original DNA would be left and so on. As dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, it means it's incredibly unlikely that any dino DNA remains. The film uses the mechanism of being inside a mosquito preserved in amber. However, half life is an inherent property unaffected by these conditions and the DNA would still break down.

Even if you were amazingly lucky and found some scraps of DNA, it would be impossible to really do anything with them. In the film they fill in the gaps in the dino DNA with bits from other organisms. However, we would have no idea what bits of DNA would be needed and what bits of DNA to create in a lab so that you get a T Rex hatching out of an egg rather than a turkey.

There are also big problems with how to develop the foetus even if the DNA problem was overcome. Cloning is very complicated and difficult. Wooly mammoths (who only died out a few thousand years ago) are the most likely candidates as there is more surviving DNA and elephants are close living relatives, but it's still a very difficult process.

This article goes into most of these problems and is pretty cool: http://www.iflscience.com/technology/could-jurassic-park-ever-come-true

 

[AV1611VET]

Interesting question.

Interesting reply!

Thanks for the 411.

 

[cloudyday2]

It seems to me that future scientists might be able to simulate the developmental biology of various DNA. A computer could filter the DNA that generates bone structure matching the fossil record. Also a computer could simulate the organism for functionality. It might simulate likely evolution of the DNA and compare to evolution of the bone structure in fossil record.

I don't pretend to be an expert at all, but it seems like we do have some clues to work with.

 

[eclipsenow]

This thread is not "fact filled."

I'm giving scientists the chance to do so, and it seem that's the least thing on their minds, doesn't it?

Don't take the innocency of this thread for granted, it reveals more about Internet scientists than you think.

Feel free to make a scientific contribution here.

Nothing to see here. I'm done.