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In the book "Jurassic Park" does the Lysine Contingency actually get explained?


I was watching the movie recently and noticed that one of the characters (very) briefly mentions a safety they built into the system should any of the dinosaurs escape. They called it the Lysine Contingency saying that all the dinos have been genetically modified to depend heavily on lysine in their diet, so if any of them escape they wouldn't be able to survive without the food supplements that the park gives them.


Why doesn't the story end right there? Does the Michael Crichton book actually explain this in depth?



Answer



They found other sources of lysine, including beans and chickens.




"...This spring, in the Ismaloya section, which is to the north, some unknown animals ate the crops in a very peculiar manner. They moved each day, in a straight line-almost as straight as an arrow-from the coast, into the mountains, into the jungle."
Grant sat upright.
"Like a migration," Guitierrez said. "Wouldn't you say?"
"What crops?" Grant said.
"Well, it was odd. They would only eat agama beans and soy, and sometimes chickens."
Grant said, "Foods rich in lysine..."



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