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Science 13 April 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5822, pp. 277 - 280
DOI: 10.1126/science.1138709
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Reports

Analyses of Soft Tissue from Tyrannosaurus rex Suggest the Presence of Protein

Mary Higby Schweitzer,1,2,3* Zhiyong Suo,4 Recep Avci,4 John M. Asara,5,6 Mark A. Allen,7 Fernando Teran Arce,4,8 John R. Horner3

We performed multiple analyses of Tyrannosaurus rex (specimen MOR 1125) fibrous cortical and medullary tissues remaining after demineralization. The results indicate that collagen I, the main organic component of bone, has been preserved in low concentrations in these tissues. The findings were independently confirmed by mass spectrometry. We propose a possible chemical pathway that may contribute to this preservation. The presence of endogenous protein in dinosaur bone may validate hypotheses about evolutionary relationships, rates, and patterns of molecular change and degradation, as well as the chemical stability of molecules over time.

1 Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
2 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA.
3 Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
4 Image and Chemical Analysis Laboratory Facility, Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
5 Division of Signal Transduction, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
6 Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
7 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
8 Center for Nanomedicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schweitzer{at}ncsu.edu

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