PROTEINS can survive in bones for hundreds of thousands of years—and
maybe longer. The discovery could help scientists isolate proteins and DNA from
fossils.
In 1992, Matthew Collins at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne claimed to
have detected osteocalcin, a protein found in bone, in 75-million-year-old
fossils such as those of duck-billed dinosaurs. But other scientists
were sceptical. Now, through heating tests and examination of more recent
fossils, Collins’s team has proved that osteocalcin can survive for at least
200,000 years if it sticks closely to the minerals found in bone (
Geology, vol 28, p 1139).…
