
Do Proteins Hold the Key to the Past? - mitchbob
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/26/do-proteins-hold-the-key-to-the-past
======
Nasrudith
Hmm interesting on several levels - one thing hinted at is a dilemma of
preservation - do they do nothing and let it slowy rot or take measures which
may destroy some evidence to keep it around longer for later more advanced
tests?

The protein precision is also surprising - I would have expected it to be of
less use from shared proteins not telling much definitive, elemental aliases
creating ambiguities, and small sample sizes making them less than
representative - let alone decay altering proteins. The nitty gritty isn't my
forte but perhaps the very broad space of possible protein foldings gives far
better identifiers.

------
woliveirajr
TL; DR: proteomics: study and analyse proteins that remain in objects to
discover pieces of the past. For example, proteins that remain in books, in
pottery, in bones, everywhere.

