Another Bone to Pick

For the past two decades, paleontologist Mary Schweitzer has been at the cutting edge of research demonstrating that certain dinosaur remains contain original soft tissue. Of course, since this material should have completely decomposed after only thousands of years, none should be left after the millions of years assigned to these remains. And this is why scientists who have chosen to investigate soft tissue remain divided over the issue.

Schweitzer’s latest technical report attempts to justify that in-bone collagen recovered from dinosaur remains is original to the dinosaur—and not a bacterial or lab-bench contaminant—on the basis of the peculiarities of the collagen protein’s three-dimensional structure. Collagen is a tough structural protein that bacteria do not manufacture. It forms long strands and acts like molecular strings that tie or connect other tissues such as skin and bones.

Read the rest of "Latest Soft Tissue Study Skirts the Issues" here.