- "The Raptor took shape inside its egg and I watched it on the ultrasound monitor. It looked like a ghost, or a puff of smoke."
- —John Hammond(src)
When the dinosaur nucleus, containing all chromosomes, is created the nucleus has to be injected into an unfertilized egg cell. Such cells are called Oocytes. This cell will multiply itself, forming an embryo. The embryo can only develop into a dinosaur if it is inserted into an egg.
Artificial eggs[]
In the book, Henry Wu claims that egg yolk is nothing but a growth medium that can be created in a laboratory. As InGen uses artificial eggs produced by Millipore Plastic Products to manufacture their dinosaur eggs, the artificial yolks are inserted via syringe. The Millipore Plastic Company was bought by InGen to make the eggshells as stated in the novel.
Extra hormones are needed from the original parent specimen, however, or constructed precisely from using the genome in order for the embryo to flourish.
Bird eggs[]
- "Our fertilization department is where the dinosaur DNA takes the place of the DNA in unfertilized emu or ostrich eggs."
- —Mr DNA(src)
In the movie, ostrich and emu eggs are used for this purpose. However, the development of an embryo is regulated by hormones in the egg/uterus and the environment. These (bird or crocodilian) hormones need to have the same effect as their original dinosaurian counterparts.
Hatching dinos on Jurassic World
For that, they have to be able to recognize particular pieces of dinosaur DNA. In the novel, plastic eggs were used. However, such artificial environments do not exist yet, and are unnecessary. In The Science Of Jurassic Park And The Lost World Or, How To Build A Dinosaur, Rob DeSalle and David Lindley say that it would be a better idea would be to insert the fertilized ovum into a chicken/ostrich/chickenosaurus oviduct, and leave a natural egg to form around it.
In Jurassic World, embryos are put in a egg and they are incubated for 10 to 85 days, depending on the complexity of the creature and gestational needs. They are kept in a controlled, incubated environment in the hatchery at the Hammond Creation Lab until they are free of their shell and considered "viable."
Breeding tank[]
Jurassic Park III seems to show that some embryos were grown in large breeding tanks in the InGen compound.[1] The fetus received nutrients through tubes connected to their umbilical cord. These animals were probably used for genetic testing, or production of new animal versions and revisions.
Chimera[]
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