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Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park #1) Page 21
Author: Michael Crichton

"Well, most soluble protein is leached out during fossilization, but twenty percent of the proteins are still recoverable by grinding up the bones and using Loy's procedure. Dr. Loy himself has used it to obtain proteins from extinct Australian marsupials, as well as blood cells from ancient human remains. His technique is so refined it can work with a mere fifty nanograms of material. That's fifty-billionths of a gram."

"And you've adapted his technique here?" Grant asked.
"Only as a backup," Wu said. "As you can imagine, a twenty percent yield is insufficient for our work. We need the entire dinosaur DNA strand in order to clone. And we get it here." He held up one of the yellow stones. "From amber-the fossilized resin of prehistoric tree sap."

Grant looked at Ellie, then at Malcolm.

"That's really quite clever," Malcolm said, nodding.

"I still don't understand," Grant admitted.

"Tree sap," Wu explained, "often flows over insects and traps them. The insects are then perfectly preserved within the fossil. One finds all kinds of insects in amber-including biting insects that have sucked blood from larger animals."

"Sucked the blood," Grant repeated. His mouth fell open. "You mean sucked the blood of dinosaurs.

"Hopefully, yes."

"And then the insects are preserved in amber. . . ." Grant shook his head. "I'll be damned-that just might work."

"I assure you, it does work," Wu said. He moved to one of the microscopes, where a technician positioned a piece of amber containing a fly under the microscope. On the video monitor, they watched as he inserted a long needle through the amber, into the thorax of the prehistoric fly.

"If this insect has any foreign blood cells, we may be able to extract them, and obtain paleo-DNA, the DNA of an extinct creature. We won't know for sure, of course, until we extract whatever is in there, replicate it, and test it. That is what we have been doing for five years now. It has been a long, slow process-but it has paid off.

"Actually, dinosaur DNA is somewhat easier to extract by this process than mammalian DNA. The reason is that mammalian red cells have no nuclei, and thus no DNA in their red cells. To clone a mammal, you must find a white cell, which is much rarer than red cells. But dinosaurs had nucleated red cells, as do modern birds. It is one of the many indications we have that dinosaurs aren't really reptiles at all. They are big leathery birds."

Tim saw that Dr. Grant still looked skeptical, and Dennis Nedry, the messy fat man, appeared completely uninterested, as if he knew it all already. Nedry kept looking impatiently toward the next room.

"I see Mr. Nedry has spotted the next phase of our work," Wu said. "How we identify the DNA we have extracted. For that, we use powerful computers."

They went through sliding doors into a chilled room. There was a loud humming sound. Two six-foot-tall round towers stood in the center of the room, and along the walls were rows of waist-high stainless-steel boxes. "This is our high-tech laundromat," Dr. Wu said. "The boxes along the walls are all Hamachi-Hood automated gene sequencers. They are being run, at very high speed, by the Cray XMP supercomputers, which are the towers in the center of the room. In essence, you are standing in the middle of an incredibly powerful genetics factory."

There were several monitors, all running so fast it was hard to see what they were showing. Wu pushed a button and slowed one image.

1    GCGTTGCTGG  CGTTTTTCCA  TAGGCTCCGC  CCCCCTGACG  AGCATCACAA  AAATCGACGC

61    GGTGGCGAAA  CCCGACAGGA  CTATAAAGAT  ACCAGGCGTT  TCCCCCTGGA  AGCTCCCTCG

121   TGTTCCGACC  CTGCCGCTTA  CCGGATACCT  GTCCGCCTTT  CTCCCTTCGG  GAAGCCTGGC

181   TGCTCACGCT  GTAGGTATCT  CAGTTCGGTG  TAGGTCGTTC  GCTCCAAGCT  GGGCTGTGTG

241   CCGTTCAGCC  CGACCGCTGC  GCCTTATCCG  GTAACTATCG  TCTTGAGTCC  AACCCGGTAA

301   AGTAGGACAG  GTGCCGGCAG  CGCTCTGGGT  CATTTTCGGC  GAGAACCGCT  TTCGCTGGAG

361   ATCGGCCTGT  CGCTTGCGGT  ATTCGGAATC  TTGCACGCCC  TCGCTCAAGC  CTTCGTCACT

421   CCAAACGTTT  CGGCGAGAAG  CAGGCCATTA  TCGCCGGCAT  GGCGGCCGAC  GCGCTGGGCT

481   GGCGTTCGCG  ACGCGAGGCT  GGATGGCCTT  CCCCATTATG  ATTCTTCTCG  CTTCCGGCGG

541   CCCGCGTTGC  AGGCCATGCT  GTCCAGGCAG  GTAGATGACG  ACCATCAGGG  ACAGCTTCAA

601   CGGCTCTTAC  CAGCCTAACT  TCGATCACTG  GACCGCTGAT  CGTCACGGCG  ATTTATGCCG

661   CACATGGACG  CGTTGCTGGC  GTTTTTCCAT  AGGCTCCGCC  CCCCTGACGA  GCATCACAAA

721   CAAGTCAGAG  GTGGCGAAAC  CCGACAGGAC  TATAAAGATA  CCAGGCGTTT  CCCCCTGGAA

781   GCGCTCTCCT  GTTCCGACCC  TGCCGCTTAC  CGGATACCTG  TCCGCCTTTC  TCCCTTCGGG

841   CTTTCTCAAT  GCTCACGCTG  TAGGTATCTC  AGTTCGGTGT  AGGTCGTTCG  CTCCAAGCTG

901   ACGAACCCCC  CGTTCAGCCC  GACCGCTGCG  CCTTATCCGG  TAACTATCGT  CTTGAGTCCA

961   ACACGACTTA  ACGGGTTGGC  ATGGATTGTA  GGCGCCGCCC  TATACCTTGT  CTGCCTCCCC

1021  GCGGTGCATG  GAGCCGGGCC  ACCTCGACCT  GAATGGAAGC  CGGCGGCACC  TCGCTAACGG

1081  CCAAGAATTG  GAGCCAATCA  ATTCTTGCGG  AGAACTGTGA  ATGCGCAAAC  CAACCCTTGG

1141  CCATCGCGTC  CGCCATCTCC  AGCAGCCGCA  CGCGGCGCAT  CTCGGGCAGC  GTTGGGTCCT

1201  GCGCATGATC  GTGCT.............     CCTGTCGTTG  AGGACCCGGC  TAGGCTGGCG  GGGTTGCCTT

1281  AGAATGAATC  ACCGATACGC  GAGCGAACGT  GAAGCGACTG  CTGCTGCAAA  ACGTCTGCGA

1341  AACATGAATG  GTCTTCGGTT  TCCGTGTTTC  GTAAAGTCTG  GAAACGCGGA  AGTCAGCGCC

"Here you see the actual structure of a small fragment of dinosaur DNA," Wu said. "Notice the sequence is made up of four basic compounds-adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. This amount of DNA probably contains instructions to make a single protein-say, a hormone or an enzyme. The full DNA molecule contains three billion of these bases. If we looked at a screen like this once a second, for eight hours a day, it'd still take more than two years to look at the entire DNA strand. It's that big."

He pointed to the image. "This is a typical example, because you see the DNA has an error, down here in line 1201. Much of the DNA we extract is fragmented or incomplete. So the first thing we have to do is repair it-or rather, the computer has to. It'll cut the DNA, using what are called restriction enzymes. The computer will select a variety of enzymes that might do the job."

1    GCGTTGCTGGCGTTTTTCCATAGGGTCCGCCCCCCTGACGAGCATCACAAAAATCGACGC

61    GGTGGCGAAACCCGACAGGACTFITAAAGATACCAGGCGTTTCCCCCTGGAAGCTCCCTCG

NspO4

121   TGTTCCGACCCTGCCGCTTACCGGATACCTGTCCGCCTTTCTCCCTTCGGGAAGCGTGGC

181   TGCTCACGCTGTAGGTATCTCAGTTCGGTGTAGGTCGTTCGCTCCASGCTGGGCTGTGTG

BrontIV

241   CCGTTCAGCCCGACCGCTGCGCCTTATCCGGTAACTATCGTCTTGAGTCCAACCCGGTAA

301   AGTAGGACAGGTGCCGGCAGCGCTCTGGGTCATTTTCGGCGAGGACCGCTTTCGCTGGAG

434 DnxTl               AoliBn

361   ATCGGCCTGTCGCTTGCGGTATTCGCAATCTTGCACGCCCTCGCTCAAGCCTTCGTCACT

421   CCAAACGTTTCGGCGAGAAGCAGGCCATAATCGCCGGCATGGCGGCCGACGCGCTGGGCT

481   GGCGTTCGCGACGCGAGGCTGGATGGCCTTCCCCATTATGATTCTTCTCGCTTCCGGCGG

541   CCCGCGTTGCAGGCCATGCTGTCCAGGCAGGTAGATGACGHCCATCAGGGACAGCTTCAA

601   CGGCTCTTACCAGCCTAACTTCGATCACTGGACCGCTGATCGTCACGGCGATTTATGCCG

Nsp04

661   CACATGGACCCGTTGCTGGCGTTTTTCCATAGGCTCCGCCCCCCTGACGAGCATCACAAA

721   CAAGTCAGAGGTGGCGAAACCCOACAGOACTATAAAGATACCAOOCOTTTCCCCCTGGAA

924 Caoll I        DinoLdn

781   GCGCTCTCCTOTTCCOACCCTOCCOCTTACCOGATACCTOTCCOCCTTTCTCCCTTCGGG

841   CTTTCTCAATOCTCACOCTGTABGTATCTCAGTTCGGTOTAGGTCGTTCOCTCCAAOCTO

901   ACGAACCCCCCOTTCAGCCCGACCGCTGCGCCTTATCCGGTAACTATCGTCTTGAOTCCA

961   ACACOACTTAACCOOTTOOCATGGATTGTAGGCGCCGCCCTATACCTTGTCTOCCTCCCC

1021  GCGGTGCATGOAOCCOGOCCACCTCGACCTGAATOGAAGCCGOCGOCACCTCOCTAACOG

1081  CCAAGAATTGGAGCCAATCAATTCTTGCGGAGAACTGTGAATGCGCAAACCAACCCTTGG

1141  CCATCGCGTCCGCCATCTCCAGCAGCCGCACGCGGCGCATCTCGGGCAGCGTTGGGTCCT

1416 DnxTI

SSpd4

1201  GCGCATGATCGTGCT:+=:CCTGTCGTTGAGGACCCGGCTAGGCTGGCGGGGTTGCCTTACT

1281  ATGAATCACCGATACGCGAGCGAACGTGAAGCGACTGCTGCTGCAAAACGTCTGCGACCT

"Here is the same section of DNA, with the points of the restriction enzymes located. As you can see in line 1201, two enzymes will cut on either side of the damaged point. Ordinarily we let the computers decide which to use. But we also need to know what base pairs we should insert to repair the injury. For that, we have to align various cut fragments, like so."

[picture]

"Now we are finding a fragment of DNA that overlaps the injury area, and will tell us what is missing. And you can see we can find it, and go ahead and make the repair. The dark bars you see arc restriction fragments-small sections of dinosaur DNA, broken by enzymes and then analyzed. The computer is now recombining them, by searching for overlapping sections of code. It's a little bit like putting a puzzle together. The computer can do it very rapidly."

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