Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Dr. Brenton Graveley
Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center
Jurassic Park— Can dinosaurs be cloned?
Program Description
Dr. Brenton Graveley explored the questions: Is it possible to clone dinosaurs? How close are we?
Presented At
Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Film Synopsis
During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.
Two dinosaur experts, Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), are invited by eccentric millionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to preview his new amusement park on an island off Costa Rica. By cloning DNA harvested from prehistoric insects, Hammond's scientists have recreated living dinosaurs for the exhibits. Accompanied by a cynical mathematician who is obsessed with chaos theory (Jeff Goldblum) and the millionaire’s two grandchildren (Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards), the experts are sent on a tour through the resort in computer-controlled touring cars. But as a tropical storm hits the island, knocking out the power supply, an unscrupulous employee (Wayne Knight) sabotages the system so he can smuggle dinosaur embryos out of the park, and the dinosaurs rage out of control. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg directed the first installment of this epic sci-fi adventure film.
About the Speaker
Dr. Brenton Graveley is a professor of genetics and developmental biology at the University of Connecticut Health Center, and has an international reputation in comparative genomics, data integration, and data visualization. He also runs Graveley lab where work is primarily focused on the regulation of alternative splicing and small RNA-mediated gene regulation. Dr. Brenton received his PhD at the University of Vermont in micro and molecular genetics and has been published in journals such as Nature, Science, and Genome Research.