Dinosaur Proteins Found in Fossils

Paleontologists have generally assumed that the only useful information that could be obtained from ancient fossils was in the sizes and shapes of the organism’s bones. The prevailing view has been that the soft tissues and any organic molecules or cellular structures within the bones themselves would have long since disappeared, leaving behind only fossils comprised of the same minerals found in rocks.

That view is slowly changing. It now appears that under the right conditions of fossilization, organic molecules may still remain in some fossils. So far, researchers have identified molecules that appear to be collagen and even fossilized osteocytes (bone-forming cells) and red blood cells, from the bones of dinosaurs as old as 80 million years.

No one is suggesting that we could ever resurrect dinosaurs from these ancient materials – cloning dinosaurs is still in the realm of science fiction. However if we could identify the precise sequences of certain ancient proteins, we’d have a better understanding of the function of these proteins within the organism. We might also be able to more accurately map out the evolutionary relationships between organisms, both ancient and living.

Reference: Schweitzer, Mary. Blood From Stone. Scientific American Dec. 2010, pp. 62-69.