No DNA from dinosaurs?(claims of ancient genetic material may be erroneous)

From: Discover | Date: September 1, 1996 | Copyright information

Jeffrey Bada of Scripps Institution of Oceanography has developed a method of testing the authenticity of DNA believed to be of ancient origin. By measuring the remnants of aspartic acid, which degrades at the same rate as DNA, he showed that almost all claimed ancient DNA samples were contaminated.

Can the DNA of dinosaurs be extracted from their fossilized bones? Not long ago the idea would never even have been considered. But with the advent of sensitive new ways of detecting and amplifying minute traces of DNA, a number of researchers in recent years have claimed to have isolated ...

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