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Space Facts@lemmy.world to science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 7 days ago

A 46,000,000-year-old mosquito still had blood inside

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A 46,000,000-year-old mosquito still had blood inside

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Space Facts@lemmy.world to science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 7 days ago
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A fossilized mosquito preserved for 46,000,000 years was discovered with blood still inside its abdomen a rare snapshot of ancient life frozen in time

Article: https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/1015/46-million-year-old-mosquito-filled-with-blood-is-a-scientific-first

  • Lichtblitz@discuss.tchncs.de
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    7 days ago

    Even under the best preservation conditions, there is an upper boundary of 0.4–1.5 million years for a sample to contain sufficient DNA for sequencing technologies.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_DNA

    • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip
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      6 days ago

      Well not with that attitude. Have fun being dinosaurless while we’re out here jousting on velociraptors

      • Lichtblitz@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 days ago

        If you say it like that, I’ll happily abandon science to go velocitaptor jousting with you!

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Yea, but you can get partial DNA sequences and then fill the rest in with frogs or some shit.

      • Lichtblitz@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 days ago

        Depending on the source DNA seems to have a half life of 500-1500 years. This source calculates with slightly over 500 years. Permafrost samples may be more on the upper end of the scale but the message would be similar:

        A study of DNA extracted from the leg bones of extinct moa birds in New Zealand found that the half-life of DNA is 521 years. So every 1,000 years, 75 per cent of the genetic information is lost. After 6.8 million years, every single base pair is gone.

        https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-does-dna-last

        • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I’ve been told on good authority that life… uh… finds a way.

    • Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club
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      6 days ago

      What if we used a time machine, go back in time, place a mosquito on a dinosaur, then when all full of blood place it into a cryogenic container that can last say 70+million years, go back to the present, find the container, and sequence the DNA?

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Why not just bring the mosquito back? Or the actual dinosaur?

        • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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          6 days ago

          Science is supposed to be complicated, dammit! /s

          • ripcord@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Oh, you also attended Rube Goldberg University?

            Good ol’ RGU. The Fightin’ Contraptions.

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          I think that was the joke

          • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Probably

        • Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club
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          6 days ago

          (That was the joke. Well, an attempt at a joke at least.)

          • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            It was too early in the morning for me to pick up on that.

            My fault, not yours.

            • Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club
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              6 days ago

              No worries, I get mistaken for a stupid person all the time (… but I added the word “mistaken” there out of my own hubris, deep down I know those are no mistakes).

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