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Half-Life of DNA is 521 Years, Jurassic Park Impossible After All
another random user writes with this quote from Nature News:
"Few researchers have given credence to claims that samples of dinosaur DNA have survived to the present day, but no one knew just how long it would take for genetic material to fall apart. Now, a study of fossils found in New Zealand is laying the matter to rest — and putting paid to hopes of cloning a Tyrannosaurus rex (abstract). After cell death, enzymes start to break down the bonds between the nucleotides that form the backbone of DNA, and micro-organisms speed the decay. In the long run, however, reactions with water are thought to be responsible for most bond degradation. Groundwater is almost ubiquitous, so DNA in buried bone samples should, in theory, degrade at a set rate. Determining that rate has been difficult because it is rare to find large sets of DNA-containing fossils with which to make meaningful comparisons. To make matters worse, variable environmental conditions such as temperature, degree of microbial attack and oxygenation alter the speed of the decay process. By comparing the specimens' ages and degrees of DNA degradation, the researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. That means that after 521 years, half of the bonds between nucleotides in the backbone of a sample would have broken; after another 521 years half of the remaining bonds would have gone; and so on."
...for God's sake, lets get samples and clone Keith Richards before its too late!?!?!?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
If you don't pay for your putting, you can't have any meat. How can you have any meat if you don't pay for your putting?
I wonder if 521 years is how long we'll be waiting for Half Life 3?
Welcome to Dodo Park.
Sorry, it just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
OK. I just showed my computer a picture of a Komodo Dragon. It just is sitting there, doing nothing.
Now what am I supposed to do?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Why is the parent modded 'Funny' - that is the story behind how the scientists in Jurassic Park found dinosaur DNA...
You just explained why it's funny.
which is totally what she said
He meant frogs not "frog's". Dino DNA is of course really large (Were talking a T-Rex afterall), so all they have to do is inject a whole frog directly in sequence. AAAATSAATTTTS(frog)AAA
The half-life of unusual British phrases in the US is less than 18 years.
Yes, but back then we called them 'Safety goggles'. They had a precursor to a holographic UI called 'scratches'. It worked much the same in practice.
-Charlie
521 years should be enough for anybody.
Hey now there's no need to exaggerate, Gabe said HL3 will be done when it's done.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson