- "Henry Wu was an only child from Ohio. A prodigy, he gained early attention from his undergraduate thesis at MIT."
- —John Hammond(src)
Dr. Henry Wu is the geneticist that recreates the dinosaurs in all Jurassic Park media. He is the chief genetic engineer of InGen.
Henry Wu was a major character in the book, but in the the film he was only a minor character with the majority of his role being taken over by Mr. DNA. In Jurassic World Henry Wu appears as a secondary character, serving as a foil for Masrani's moral opposition to gene splicing, creating the hybrid Indominus rex.
Story
Cloning dinosaurs
Henry Wu is a Chinese American from Ohio with a PhD in genetics. He is a senior member of InGen's project to recreate the dinosaurs. Dr. Wu and paleo-geneticist Dr. Laura Sorkin were the top minds in the project.
When the team had discovered large amounts of dinosaur DNA, Dr. Wu proposed that they could start to clone dinosaurs by filling in the missing parts of the dinosaur genome (DNA) with DNA from extant species. Laura Sorkin opposed this idea and wanted to wait with the cloning until they had recovered 100% of a species' genome. The board of investors preferred Wu's approach because it was faster, easier and cheaper. Thus, the board gave Dr. Wu a promotion to be the chief geneticist.[2]
Dr. Wu, when he is first encountered in the movie.
Wu decided to use the DNA of several species of amphibians, including the Common reed frog (Hyperolius viridiflavus), to supplement the dinosaur DNA.[3] The first prehistoric animal was cloned in 1986. Wu also decided to build in a few safety measures. The dinosaur chromosomes were designed such that all animals were female, so they could not reproduce. He also made the dinosaurs unable to produce Lysine, so they would die without the supplements in their food.[2]
Isla Nublar Incident (1993)
When the endorsement team visited the Isla Nublar Laboratory to see the Velociraptors hatch, Dr. Wu was among the scientists in the laboratory at that time. He joined the group and answered their questions. Wu probably left the island on the C-3208 boat during the storm evacuation.
Wu returned to the island in November 1994 as part of the operation to deconstruct the ruined Jurassic Park.[3] His job was cataloging specimen numbers, and to identify exactly how the animals were breeding. Wu discovered that the amphibian DNA enabled the animals to change their sex through a chemical trigger which disintegrated the female organs to create male sex organs.
Creating hybrids
Dr. Wu stands in front of a collection of amber samples collected from various InGen operated mines located all across the world.
Wu kept leading the research team at a financially struggling InGen. The breeding dinosaurs had shown him that not only the DNA of various species could be combined, but also their observable characteristics. In 1995, Dr. Wu wrote the book The Next Step: An Evolution of God’s Concepts. In this book, he proposed the hypothesis that he could bring brand new species into fruition by the combination the traits of various species.[3]
In 1997, Wu and his team actually succeeded in creating a hybrid organism. They had combined the DNA of several plant species to create a new plant, Karacosis wutansis (or Wu Flower). The creation of this hybrid plant gained worldwide media attention.
Masrani
In 1998, the Masrani Global Corporation took over InGen. The CEO Simon Masrani promoted Dr. Wu within the ranks of the InGen company in December of 2000.[3] Wu supervised the creation of new dinosaurs in the Hammond Creation Lab for the new park Jurassic World. He and many other InGen scientists were involved in the creation of Indominus rex.
In November of 2014, the new InGen facility named "Martel" opened in Siberia. The goal of Martel was to extract Pleistocene dated organic materials from glacial ice. He showed excitement for the project believing it will expand InGen's genome library,[4] but he withheld from speculating about using any found materials to create Cenozoic animals for Jurassic World at the moment.[5]
In a paper for a scientific journal that was published by Wu in March 2015, he reported on the possibility of using InGen's genome library to help Medixal Health in their research of diseases.[6]
Isla Nublar Incident (2015)
Dr. Wu is first seen with Claire Dearing, trying to attract investors with the genetically modified hybrid Indominus rex. After the Indominus rex escaped, Masrani confronted Wu about how the animal was created. Wu did not tell Masrani that part of it is Velociraptor, but he did mention that it had the genes of cuttlefish to help her withstand an accelerated growth rate, though the progress also gave Indominus the ability of camouflage (which the creature used to surprise the ACU Troopers). Tree frog DNA was also used to adapt the hybrid to the island's tropical climate, but it also gave her the ability to hide her infrared signature from the thermal seeking cameras around her paddock. He also reminded Masrani that he was the one that asked for a bigger, scarier and cooler dinosaur, but Masrani accused him of creating a monster instead. Wu then states that "monster" is a relative term between a cat and a canary; they are used to being the cat. Though he seems to be somewhat unpleasantly surprised at how deadly the hybrid has turned out, he is apparently unremorseful about the deaths that it has caused, deeming them merely "unfortunate", and is unconcerned that he has committed numerous crimes against nature by creating the hybrid in the first place. When Vic Hoskins takes command of the park, Wu is revealed to have been secretly working with Hoskins to make hybrids as weapons and Hoskins has him evacuated to the Costa Rican mainland along with the rest of the InGen team. He takes with him several hybrid dinosaur embryos at Hoskins' request, thus protecting his research.[7]
Post 2015 Isla Nublar Incident
Following the Isla Nublar Incident (2015) Dr. Wu is found guilty of bioethical misconduct and stripped of all his credentials.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Dr. Wu is seen talking with Eli Mills while Maisie Lockwood is exploring the hidden laboratory. She overhears them arguing about Blue and the condition she's being brought back in. Later, Dr. Wu is seen briefly at the dinosaur auction. He protests when Eli allows bidding on a prototype of the Indoraptor. After the auction goes out of control, he's seen back in the laboratory trying to salvage as much as he can. He attempts to get a blood sample from Blue to complete his Indoraptor but is shocked as he learns from Zia Rodriguez that she gave Blue a blood transfusion from the Tyrannosaurus rex, thereby contaminating Blue's pure genome. Suddenly, Franklin Webb manages to sedate Wu with a tranquilizer dart filled with 50 CC'S of Carfentanil. This allows him to free Zia but they are stopped by mercenaries which one of them drags Wu off and away from the lab. Zia was able to free Blue from the cage which she provided as cover to hold of the mercnaries while Zia and Franklin make their escape. During the fight between Blue and the mercenaries, a tank of flammable gas is struck by a stray bullet which then gets triggered causing Wu’s lab to explode in the process.
Gallery
Jurassic Park
Jurassic World
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Novels
Jurassic Park (novel)
Henry Wu, PhD was the chief geneticist for Jurassic Park and was responsible for creating the dinosaurs. He was a slender man at thirty-three years old.
Two weeks after the funeral of geneticist Norman Atherton, eccentric venture capitalist John Hammond came to see Wu. When Henry Wu was first recruited by Hammond, he was a twenty-eight-year-old graduate student getting his doctorate at Stanford under the chief lab scientist Norman Atherton. Everyone in the lab knew that Atherton had had some association with Hammond, although the details were never clear. Norman always said Wu was the best geneticist in his lab, and it was this recommendation that caught Hammond's attention, making Wu the clear candidate to help Hammond with his secret project. Hammond gave Wu $10 million a year in funding for five years to take a crack at the impossible, what he called "cloning reptiles" at the time, which turned out to be dinosaurs, more like avian cloning than reptilian cloning.
Halfway through the original novel, Hammond and Wu have a discussion. Wu says that they could and should make better, slower and tamer dinosaurs. Hammond scoffs at the idea, saying that they have real dinosaurs; who would want more? Wu's reply is that they should not bother with reality because the people coming to see Jurassic Park do not want reality, they want their expectations. With Hammond's dismissal, Wu is forced to realize that Hammond cares far less for his opinion than he did when Wu was first hired. Around the time of this conversation, it is hinted that Wu may have had some romantic interest in Marìa, a silent serving girl whom he could not take his eyes off of.
Prompted by Alan Grant later in the novel, Wu checked the dinosaurs' DNA to find which species had amphibian DNA. He discovered that the species that were breeding all contained amphibian DNA. Wu did not understand the connection between amphibian DNA and the dinosaurs being able to breed, as Grant never had a chance to explain it to him, but nevertheless, Wu was then convinced that they could breed. Although he would never admit it, Wu was strangely proud that he had recreated animals so lifelike that they could reproduce themselves. Shortly after, it was Wu who discovered that Nedry had stolen embryos, worth between 2 and 10 million dollars.
When Wu and the rest of those in the control room realized that the park had been running on backup power, Wu's job was to stay in the control room until Arnold could reboot the system. Then, Wu was supposed to start up the computer and restore power to the fences. Unfortunately, he was forced to rejoin the others in the Safari Lodge after two failed attempts to reboot the system from the maintenance shed. On his way to the lodge, Wu picked up an injured Robert Muldoon and brought him back with him in the gas Jeep. Later on, over the radio, Wu talked Grant through rebooting the park's systems. Soon afterwards, Wu, while telling Ellie Sattler to come back to the lodge, is ambushed from above by Velociraptors and devoured alive after being sliced down the stomach while lying on his back.
Hammond primarily blamed Wu as the reason for the downfall of the park towards the end of the novel, concluding that Wu had been too preoccupied with the idea of making improvements on the animals in Version 4.4, instead of making actual, original dinosaurs. Hammond found faults with many of his employees, telling himself that next time he created a park, he would do better.
The Lost World (novel)
He did not appear, but was only mentioned and referenced to in The Lost World, in several notes from the Laboratory on Site B. It is possible that he was intended to be the Chinese scientist wearing the shirt that read "InGen Site B Research Facility" that Richard Levine found in InGen files.
Jurassic Park: Trespasser
According to Trespasser, Wu grew up as an only child in Ohio and was a prodigy. He went to MIT and gained his undergraduate thesis, and then obtained his doctorate under Norman Atherton at Stanford University.
During the level The Town, there is a dry-erase board with a message from Hammond to Wu, but in it, Hammond misspells Wu's first name. the full text is:
Henrey, See me about returning the keys - John
An unused quote from Trespasser states:
"I brought my idea to two Stanford geneticists; Norman Atherton and Henry Wu. Norman, a man of my generation, was tops in the field. Henry, his protege."
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
In the game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Henry Wu is a primary character in the game. He is credited as the Creator of Jurassic Park's cloning technology. He aids the player that objects in the park must be researched, but studying cost some revenue from your invest. You must obey his researching topics to add new items to the game. However, Wu will also be obeying you if you would like to extract, sell, or purchase an item: (a dinosaur fossil, amber, or rich substance). He is the Head of the Genetic Lab. In the game, he is renamed Harry Wu for some reason (This is likely just an informal version of his name), but what makes it more interesting, is the game manual still calls him "Henry Wu". He will send you mail several times, and Alan Grant will send the purchased items to his Genetic Lab. In the game, it requires 50% of Dinosaur DNA to create a dinosaur and finally open it into a cage. He does not have to create all of your park's dinosaurs if your hatcheries you open in a game and already have enough dinosaur DNA, depending in which digging site you choose.
Jurassic Park: Builder
Henry Wu is a major character in the simulation game Jurassic Park: Builder. He guides the player through the process of cloning and taking care of the dinosaurs.
Wu is introduced in at the end of mission Camping Out. Once you found a piece of amber, Alan Grant radios Dr. Wu. Wu first appears in the following mission Surprise Discovery.
Jurassic World: The Game
Henry Wu provides the player with missions in Jurassic World: The Game.
Jurassic World: Evolution
Henry Wu appears in Jurassic World: Evolution, with B.D. Wong reprising the role.[8] In the game, Wu is shown to be somewhat amoral, and has a low opinion of fellow scientist and head of Jurassic World's Science Division, Kajal Dua. It is also implied that they have a history. His relationship with Isaac Clement of the Entertainment Division and Security Division head George Lambert is little different, as they do not like his methods but can't argue with his results. In "The Secrets of Dr. Wu" DLC pack, he is implied to willingly unleash dinosaurs he creates on saboteurs that try to undermine InGen's Hammond Foundation and is willing to leave his colleagues in the dark during certain tests of the dinosaurs' capabilities to see how they react in a crisis.
Comics
In Jurassic Park: Redemption Wu survived the incident and gets off the island on a boat. 13 years after the incident at Isla Nublar, Wu is hired by Tim Murphy as a caretaker and bioengineer for a new Jurassic Park on the mainland. However, he is killed by a pack of Gracilisuchus that escape from their pen which Lewis Dodgson did not close properly.
LEGO Jurassic World
A minifigure of Wu is included with the LEGO Jurassic World set 75919 Indominus rex Breakout. His minifigure has a double-sided head, one depicting him grinning and the other showing him disappointed. He has a piece of amber with a mosquito inside it and an Erlenmeyer flask with the bottom filled with a green fluid as accessories.
His minifigure (minus the flask) is also a pre-order bonus for the LEGO Jurassic World video game at Target.
Links
References
- ↑ In the novel Jurassic Park Henry Wu is said to be 33 years old. Since the novel took place in 1989, Henry's year of birth in the novel canon can be calculated to be either 1955 or 1956, depending on his exact date of birth.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jurassic Park: The Game, scenario They Open Doors.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 InGen Technologies. (2014, November). Retrieved from http://www.masraniglobal.com/about/divisions/ingen/index.html
- ↑ Masrani News
- ↑ Masrani Fiscal Year 2014 Report
- ↑ Masrani News
- ↑ Jurassic World
- ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/04/25/more-jurassic-world-actors-join-the-cast-of-jurassic-world-evolution
Template:JPI Characters Template:JPIV Characters Template:JPV Characters Template:JPVI Characters