3 ms·
It means half of the dna is destroyed every 500 years. After 65,000,000 years, you have 1/(2^130,000)th of the original DNA left, which is to say, none at all.
by empath75 7y ago
It means half of the dna is destroyed every 500 years. After 65,000,000 years, you have 1/(2^130,000)th of the original DNA left, which is to say, none at all.
- varenc 7y agoDNA half-life isn't an immutable property of the material like radioactive half-life is. The environment has an effect. The DNA in cryogenically preserved tissue should have a much longer half life.
- TuringNYC 7y agoCurious what the half life would be for dinosaur blood within Amber (per the book)?
- mkl 7y agoIt seems to depend mostly on temperature and moisture: dry, cold, and unchanging are best. We have good DNA from Deniovans because it was recovered from bones and teeth that sat buried in a cave in Siberia for 50k years. Being in amber might protect from moisture, but I think the temperature and temperature swings would still likely destroy it within thousands of years.