Endogenous Proteins Found in a 70-Million-Year-Old Giant Marine Lizard

Researchers in Lund, Sweden found some kind of endogenous protein from the fossil or about 70 million years old. It was a varanoid lizard then lived in marine enviorments. It is also called mosasaurs and they are extinct lizards that lived 100-65 million years ago. Scientist Anders Engdahl showed that the fossil remains of type I collagen, which is a structual protein. Collagen is also the dominat protein in bones. The scienctist used many different techniques to find this.

I think discovering new things are amazing. New things are always being found and many of them help human kind. I'm not sure on how exactly this can help, but having knowledge of this could be usefull. I also think it is intersting that they used so many differnet ways to find that protein. For example they used some kind of radiation based infrared microspectrosocopy at MAX- lab in Lund, Sweden.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110502092255.htm