
In Jurassic Park, what animal’s DNA do they use to fill in the gap in dinosaur DNA?

When Michael Crichton penned "Jurassic Park" in 1990, he tapped into our collective fascination with dinosaurs and cutting-edge science. The book was a bestseller, but it was the 1993 film adaptation that truly captured the world's imagination. Suddenly, everyone was talking about DNA, amber, and the possibility of bringing extinct creatures back to life.
But here's the challenge: how do you take a novel filled with complex scientific concepts and turn it into a blockbuster movie without losing the audience? This is where the filmmakers showed their true genius. They introduced us to Mr. DNA, a charismatic animated character that turns what could have been a dry science lesson into an entertaining and memorable sequence.
In what might be one of the cleverest exposition scenes in cinema history, Mr. DNA takes us on a whirlwind tour of dino-cloning 101. This animated sequence manages to compress pages of scientific explanation into a few minutes of screen time, making the science behind Jurassic Park accessible to viewers of all ages.
During this crash course in paleogenetics, we learn something crucial about the process of bringing dinosaurs back to life. The dino DNA extracted from prehistoric mosquitoes trapped in amber isn't complete. As our animated guide puts it, it's "full of holes." But the scientists at Jurassic Park have come up with an ingenious, albeit ethically questionable, solution to this problem.
They decide to fill in these genetic gaps with DNA from a modern animal. It's a bit like completing an ancient, fragmented manuscript with pages from a contemporary book. The choice of animal for this genetic patchwork is both logical and surprising.
This brings us to our trivia question for today. Can you recall which present-day creature's DNA was used to complete the dinosaur genetic code in "Jurassic Park"?
Click START below to answer.
▼
The answer is: Frog. In the book, Michael Crichton goes into a more detailed and complex explanation of how scientists used chicken and amphibian DNA to help grow dinosaurs. But we don’t have time for that in a blockbuster movie, so it became Mr. DNA explaining that they simply used frog DNA to fill the gaps.The decision to use frog DNA turns out to be just one of the many problems the humans didn’t anticipate, as it’s what eventually allowed the dinos to begin breeding on their own.Source
Share This Trivia
Related Topics
Want More Nostalgia?
Check out our other quizzes and random trivia questions!
More Trivia
- What are the ghost-catching weapons called in “Ghostbusters”?
- What year did the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) launch?
- Who is Peter Parker's boss in Spider-Man?
- What was the first grand prize in "Pyramid"?
- Who was the voice of Charlie in "Charlie's Angels"?
- Who starred as the twins in the remake of "The Parent Trap"?
- What was Neo's real name in "The Matrix"?
- In "The Big Lebowski," what is The Dude’s signature drink?