Via Amber Williams at PopSci, daunting news for those who wish to use DNA to reanimate dinosaurs, so that they can kill us all:

“DNA is a sturdy molecule; it can hang around for a long time in fossilized plants and animals. To find out just how long, an international team of scientists decided to determine its rate of decay—the length of time it takes half of its bonds to break.

First, the scientists extracted and measured the amount of DNA in 158 tibiotarsus leg bones of extinct moa, 12-foot, flightless birds that once roamed New Zealand. Next, they used radiocarbon dating to calculate the ages of the bones, which ranged from about 650 years old to 7,000 years old. With that data, the scientists calculated the hereditary molecule’s half-life: about 521 years.

The rate, however, isn’t slow enough for humans to take blood from an amber-encased mosquito and clone dinosaurs, like in Jurassic Park.”