- A decade-long study by Anglia Ruskin University and Imperial College London suggests dinosaur fossils could hold the key to new cancer discoveries and influence future treatments.
- Researchers identified preserved red blood cell-like structures in a dinosaur fossil, raising the possibility of studying ancient tumours.
- The study began in 2016 after the discovery of a tumour in the jaw of a Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived 66-70 million years ago in present-day Romania.
- Scientists drilled into the fossil and used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to identify low-density structures resembling red blood cells.
- Researchers want to understand the molecular building blocks of cancer from an ancient perspective, potentially leading to better treatments by studying soft tissues and proteins that survive over time.
IN FULL
New dinosaur discovery could hold the key to human cancer treatment
