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Creation 42(4):15, October 2020

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DNA detected in duckbilled dino

Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photoduckbilled-dino

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“I couldn’t believe it, my heart almost stopped beating.” This was one of the research team’s reactions when they found evidence of proteins, chromosomes, and chemical markers of dinosaur DNA in the remains of a duckbilled dinosaur (Hypacrosaurus stebingeri).1

Dozens of disarticulated baby dinosaurs were discovered in the 1980s at Two Medicine Formation in northern Montana. A recent detailed examination of one of the skulls led the team to identify cartilage cells, with internal structures resembling nuclei and chromosomes.

The team applied to the cells two chemical stains that each react to DNA. These were DAPI (shown in blue) and PI, which unlike DAPI only does so in dead cells (shown in red).

The results shown mean that double-stranded DNA with a minimum length of six base pairs (BP) is present in these cells. The paper concluded, “The identification of chemical markers of DNA in Hypacrosaurus suggest[s] it may preserve much longer than originally proposed.”

Of course, not everyone is happy with this find.2 The dinosaur is ‘dated’ at 75 million years old, but precise calculations based on the laws of science demand that DNA should be totally disintegrated long before that.

One paper calculated that DNA should be totally fragmented to one BP in about 6.8 million years even if frozen to –5°C. This is less than a tenth of the claimed age of the dino fossil. But at 15°C and 10,000 years, the average length of DNA would be about 13 BP.3

The Bible is clear that these dinosaur remains cannot be millions of years old. They were likely buried in sediment as a result of the global Noahic Flood around 4,500 years ago. The calculated figures from real chemistry are clearly consistent with this—and totally inconsistent with millions of years.

Credit – National Science Review 7(4), Apr 2020DNA-Detected-diagram
Posted on homepage: 17 August 2020

References and notes

  1. Bailleul, A.M. and 5 others, Evidence of proteins, chromosomes, and chemical markers of DNA in exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage, National Science Review 7(4):815–822, Apr 2020. Return to text.
  2. Dvorsky, G., Paleontologists are sceptical about baby dinosaur cells supposedly found in fossil, gizmodo.com, 3 Feb 2020. Return to text.
  3. Allentoft, M.E. and 13 others, The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils, Proc. Royal Society B 279(1748):4724–4733, 7 Dec 2012; Table 1. See also creation.com/dino-dna. Return to text.

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