If I went to the dinosaur first, I?m not sure everyone would believe me. |
If we have a protein sequence from bone, we can tell if the material is an original part of the organism that will provide interesting information about its past. We can know where it came from. Our goal is to use a variety of technologies new to paleontology to develop a deeper understanding of prehistoric life - and everyone dreams of embellishing our understanding of dinosaurs. |
It just takes two or three pinches of bone powder to find molecular evidence. We have protein sequences from material believed to be in range of half a million years old. We are carefully working our way back in time. |
Molecules are fossils, too. We've shown that proteins survive in very old fossils, and proteins can tell us about diseases, about where prehistoric animals fit in the food chain, what they ate and who they are related to. |
We know now that it has the real organic matter in it. |