Re: Dinosaur Protein

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

jbois@verizon.net writes: 

> And, why does DNA not hold up so well?

It's a very long and fragile polymer that needs to be constantly repaired in 
living creatures. It was once thought that *Deinococcus radiodurans* 
bacteria are immune to even huge doses of radiation by somehow shielding 
their DNA from damage. It turns out that they're just really good at fixing 
the damage (instead of avoiding it). 

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/01_03/donut.shtml 

Once an organism is dead, the mechanisms by which DNA is repaired cease to 
function, and the molecules quickly begin to fragment. 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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