The core idea behind Jurassic Park is that we could clone dinsoaurs from their DNA, found in fossil and trapped in amber. Unfortunately, that's just not the case. While DNA is a sturdy molecule; it just doesn't last long enough for us to get usable DNA from fossils.
Until recently, scientists didn't know exactly how long DNA could actually last. So, to answer that question, an team of scientists from around the world set out to uncover the molecule's half life—the length of time it takes half of its chemical bonds to break.
In the experiement, they went to the lab to remove and quantify the DNA in 158 fosilized leg bones. The bones came from the Moa, a 12' tall flightless bird related to the emu. After collecting the DNA, theyused carbon-14 dating to discover bones' ages, which varied from 650 years old to almost 7,000 years old. With that information, the scientists were able to calculate the molecule's half-life: about 521 years.
It's quite a long time, but dinosaurs have been extinct for quite a while—almost 66 million years. It seems like we're just not going to get a real-life Jurassic Park any time soon.
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