If you have been having nightmares about your home being crushed by wild dinosaurs that have over run the world, relax. One of the most fascinating science fictions stories, Jurassic Park was written by Michael Crichton. He spelled out bringing back extinct creatures to life using DNA trapped in fossilized blood sucking insects. While it is true that insects get preserved rather well in amber, it is also not possible for DNA molecules to be obtained for use in research to recreate the dinosaurs.

This is because even with a well preserved insect fossil the DNA molecule would still have been breaking down and becoming unreadable. The fragile DNA complex has a half life of 521 years. So every 521 years half the useful DNA will become unreadable, keeping up at this pace in about a million and half years the DNA would be rendered absolutely useless. And a team at Manchester University also verified that DNA within insect fossils actually tends to degrade at an even faster pace.

While it may seem like a great story, unfortunately at present the dream of bringing back extinct animals is going to remain unfulfilled. You never know what science project in the future may make it possible, but for now you are safe from rampaging dinosaurs tearing up your home town.