Name: Could Jurassic Park Actually Happen?
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In the 90s, there was a lot of information published about ancient DNA that we now know is nonsense.

Could Jurassic Park Actually Happen?

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In the 90s, there was a lot of information published about ancient DNA that we now know is nonsense.

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Could Jurassic Park Actually Happen?Published: September 12, 2024Beth Shapiro: Everybody wants there to be dinosaur DNA. And so somebody who says, "Hey, I got this really well-preserved dinosaur, and guess what? There's DNA in it." Of course, the media are going to be super excited about this. Back in the '90s, some scientists got a little carried away. The early days of ancient DNA were a bit of a disaster, unless you're in PR, in which case it was fantastic. There was a whole bunch of what we now know is complete nonsense that was published with just abandon, just excitement and enthusiasm rather than actual science.And Hollywood couldn't resist. Jurassic Park was not a documentary. So let's reconstruct Jurassic Park. Scientists go somewhere hot because amber forms in hot places and they find a really beautiful piece of amber inside of which they can see this fantastic insect that looks perfectly preserved. They take a big needle and they stick it into the insect and they draw out blood, presumably from a dinosaur. And then they take that blood to the lab and they do some magic that for some reason involves frogs, even though we already knew at the time that birds were the closest living ancestor of dinosaurs.And then more magic happens and dinosaurs are back to life. But we now know a lot more about DNA than we used to. And everything we know tells us no question about it that this molecule just doesn't stick around for millions and millions of years. Dinosaurs have been extinct for more than 65 million years. We will never get dinosaur DNA. Jurassic Park is not going to happen. I'm sorry.

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Could Jurassic Park Actually Happen?

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Explore More

When Camels Roamed the Arctic

Arctic Sinkholes

Oldest DNA Ever Found Reveals Secrets of the Ancient Arctic

Hunt for the Oldest DNA