Scientists discover preserved proteins in fossil fragments, expanding the study of extinct organisms.
As a scientist, lab work can sometimes get monotonous. But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the UK, I heard a gleeful exclamation from across the room. Kirsty Penkman, a fellow researcher at the University of York, had just read the data printed off the chromatograms and was practically jumping up and down.
Not much organic material survives over millions of years, which limits scientists' ability to study the biology of extinct organisms compared to modern ones, whose proteins and DNA can be sequenced. As Penkman's enthusiasm suggested, these amino acids were extraordinary. We tested 3.8-million-year-old bird eggshell and dinosaur eggshell fragments to see if any original proteins were preserved. The fossil fragments we tested had scientific value as they were not part of any museum collections, allowing us to analyze them without worrying about damage
Scientist Lab Work Monotonous Paleobiology University Of Bristol University Of York Organic Material Extinct Organisms Proteins DNA Amino Acids Bird Eggshell Dinosaur Eggshell Fragments Museum Collections
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