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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."

4 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ummmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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?

  2. Re:But what about... by fragtag · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

  3. Re:Ummmm by rpresser · · Score: 5, Funny

    The half-life of unusual British phrases in the US is less than 18 years.

  4. Re:Someone forgot to tell these guys by mishu2065 · · Score: 5, Funny

    521 years should be enough for anybody.