Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Cloning T-Rex

Viable DNA is almost a certain impossibility

Natural radiation would have destroyed it all long ago- remember that the human body and its DNA naturally includes radioactive isotopes, so some atoms in the DNA will decay- add to that the cumulative effects of radiation from cosmic rays and the environment and viable DNA would seem an impossibility.

Of course recovering protein is something I would have argued was an impossibility on the same grounds, and yet some claim that has been done- so what do I know?

I do remember a few years back that some many thousands of years old lotus seeds were recovered from lake sediment- perfectly preserved- a few were able to actually germinate... the low percentage able to germinate was blamed on the cumulative effects of natural radiation...

I will try to find that article

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (25 posts)