Researchers analyze protein from a 68-million-year-old dinosaur bone; techniques used in analysis could be useful in studying cancer

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"Scientist have extracted the hardy, fibrous protein collagen from a 68-million-year-old thighbone that belonged to a Tyrannosaurus rex, jettisoning the long-held belief that ancient fossils could not provide protein samples for analysis. The protein was discovered in a femur (thighbone) unearthed four years ago under a thousand cubic yards of rock on a cliff in the Hell Creek Formation, which spans the Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas in the northwestern U.S. "

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