Yes, the inspiration was from there. But The Chase fleshed out more of a detective story with each side thinking the samples of DNA were leading to the developm

Yes, the inspiration was from there. But The Chase fleshed out more of a detective story with each side thinking the samples of DNA were leading to the development of whatever they think it ultimately was. In Contact there was somewhat of a "hello neighbor" type situation where the extraterrestrials were communicating a means of reaching far off places left behind by a much older civilization.