Researchers at MIT have developed a method of preserving DNA after being inspired by Jurassic Park.
The Jurassic Park series is still going strong, with another movie in the works, over 30 years since the franchise’s debut in the 90s. But, many of Jurassic Park’s sci-fi skewing have remained fiction, until now.Researchers at MIT have developed a long-term method to store DNA in an amber-like substance, after being inspired by Jurassic Park.
Storing DNA can be a tedious process. As it stands, a lot of modern methods for storing DNA involve freezing, which helps retain the quality of a DNA sample and avoid any unwanted damage or interference from the environment it’s stored in. However, not every lab has the facilities and the funds to facilitate the process.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new alternative where instead of freezing the DNA, they can store it in a “glassy amber-like” polymer. This polymer can then be stored at room temperature, without damaging the molecules.
If that sounds familiar, then it should come as no surprise that the researchers were inspired by Jurassic Park. In the iconic 90s film, it’s revealed, thanks to Mr.DNA themselves, that the DNA of dinosaurs was preserved in a fossilized amber.
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The influence of Jurassic Park doesn’t stop there. According to MIT News, varying lengths of DNA were stored with this new method, including the theme music from the Jurassic Park film itself.
Better yet, the Jurassic Park references keep going. This brand-new method of storing DNA was named the Thermoset-REinforced Xeropreservation method, or ‘T-REX’, as reported in the project’s research paper for the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
While the MIT researchers aren’t planning to start up their dinosaur park any time soon, their DNA project is still underway. With plans to develop a way to form the polymers into capsules.
