New dinosaur discovery could hold the key to human cancer treatment
Scientists look to dinosaurs for modern cancer treatment
- 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.