The only catch is that the DNA does not match any known DNA. Dino DNA should resemble birds’ or crocodiles’ – presumed to be the reptiles’ closest kin. Might it be from an unknown microbe that infected the dinosaur bones, and not from the dinosaur itself? Or might the bone fragments not be dinosaurian in the first place? (They are too small to identify with certainty.) Woodward is sending bits of the bones to other labs so they can check his claim. Whatever the result, don’t expect Jurassic Park: even if what Woodward has is truly dinosaur DNA, it is only nine short sequences from only one gene out of the millions that would be required to spell out a complete genetic blueprint. It will take more than that to make dinosaurs stalk the earth once more.
