Can dinosaur fossils unlock the future of cancer treatment? Scientists say yes

Yahoo

4 days ago

A dinosaur's jaw might just open a new chapter in cancer research.
In a study spanning a decade, scientists from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London used advanced paleoproteomic techniques — a method that holds promise for uncovering molecular data from ancient specimens — to discover red blood cell-like structures preserved in a dinosaur fossil.
The fossil belongs to Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed herbivore 'marsh lizard' that roamed what is now Romania some 66–70 million years ago.
The findings raise the possibility that ancient tumours could help unravel cancer's molecular origins and potentially inform future treatments.
The idea for the research began in 2016 when Professor Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at ARU, read about a dinosaur fossil with a tumor in its jaw.
This tumor, known as an ameloblastoma, is a benign growth that also occurs in humans, sparking curiosity about the molecular similarities between ancient and modern cancers.
By 2017, a multidisciplinary team—including Dr. Biancastella Cereser from Imperial and Professor Pramodh Chandrasinghe from Sri Lanka—secured the fossil and began meticulous analysis.
'We brought it back and basically drilled into it with a very, very, very fine drill,' said Dr Cereser.
An image of fossilised erythrocyte-like structures. Anglia Ruskin University
Using high-resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), a very sophisticated microscope, the team identified structures that resembled erythrocytes (red blood cells) in the fossilised bone.
'Until recently, fossils were mostly useful for examining hard structures like shells and bones, noted Stebbing. 'But if we're trying to look at the building blocks of life or cancer, we now know we can actually see soft tissues too. We could actually see the flesh of the cancer.'
This ancient evidence offers a rare opportunity to study the long-term environmental factors that may have shaped cancer across millions of years.
The findings raise the possibility that soft tissue and cellular components are more commonly preserved in ancient remains than previously thought.
By identifying preserved proteins and biomarkers, scientists believe they can gain insights into the diseases that affected prehistoric creatures, including cancer, potentially influencing future treatments for humans.
'Proteins, particularly those found in calcified tissues like bone, are more stable than DNA and are less susceptible to degradation and contamination. This makes them ideal candidates for studying ancient diseases, including cancer, in paleontological specimens,' Stebbing said.
While popular culture often imagines recovering dinosaur DNA to bring these creatures back to life, Stebbing was clear: 'Jurassic Park isn't right... we can't get DNA out of this because it's broken down by time and weathering. But what we have found is that we've actually found proteins in soft tissues that can survive over time.'
The team believes that studying cancer in such ancient organisms could 'help us understand the role of environment on cancer,' and ultimately inform better treatments for humans.
The researchers also emphasize the importance of fossil conservation, urging that 'long-term fossil conservation efforts are coordinated to ensure that future researchers have access to specimens suitable for cutting-edge molecular investigations.'The study has been published in the journal Biology.