By Scott Carlson
McKinnell, cloning and “Jurassic Park”
In this issue of the Bugle’s “Lives lived’’ story, obits editor Mary Mergenthal shares the news of the death of, among several people, Robert Gilmore McKinnell.
McKinnell, 98, a longtime St. Anthony Park resident, died on June 21,2025. He was an extraordinary man who made his mark in the field of biological sciences. And he even has a Hollywood-type connection with a popular movie franchise.
In the obits, Mary reports that McKinnell was a professor of genetics and cell biology at the University of Minnesota from 1970 to 1999.
He published several books on the subjects of cloning and cancer, and he authored or co-authored well over 100 articles published in scientific journals. Bob’s research involved surveying leopard frogs in Minnesota from the 1960s to the 2010s, and he was consulted on deformed frogs in the 1990s.
Given his scientific research, Bob is thought to have inspired Michael Crichton writing his novel “Jurassic Park” in 1990.
In the University of Minnesota Biological Services website, its authors noted, “Just a year or two before Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” was published (1990) McKinnell and lifelong colleague Marie DiBerardino (then with the Medical College of Pennsylvania) published a paper on possibility of cloning an organism from an adult blood cell transplanted into the nucleus of a donor cell.”
DiBerardino came up with the idea for the research and McKinnell made key contributions in carrying it out. To their surprise and delight, the blood cell-derived clone developed further than any clone with a confirmed adult nuclear donor — until Dolly, the cloned sheep.
“When the “Jurassic Park” movie came out in 1993, Bob became a local media star for his expertise on cloning and gave numerous public talks on the subject.”
You can find out other details about the amazing McKinnell on page 12 in Mary’s obits column.
New to the Bugle
Among the many interesting articles in this issue of the Bugle is a new feature from the Como Community Seed Library.
Each month, the Seed Library folks will highlight a different native Minnesota plant. The new series is being presented in collaboration with the MN Seed Project.
We think this new column will be of interest to Bugle readers given that so many people in our coverage area are avid gardeners. Feel free to send us suggestions on any native Minnesota plants you would like us to feature.
Poem a blast for Fourth celebration
The activities staged by the 4th in the Park Committee are a cherished tradition that make St. Anthony Park’s Fourth of July celebration extra special. Resident Emma Lee captures the spirit and excitement of the day in this poem she recently penned.
Scott Carlson is the managing editor of the Bugle.