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Dinosaur Blood and the Age of the Earth
Can dinosaur blood and other soft tissues survive for millions of years? Fossils have preserved evidence but what does it show? In 2004, paleontologist Mary Schweitzer peered through her microscope and saw something remarkable. She saw fresh-looking remnants of soft tissue in the fossilized remains of a T. rex femur. This was totally unexpected. And it contradicted all the rules of paleontology. Scientists had long believed that soft tissue remains would have degraded away in thousands not millions of years. But this tissue staring back at Mary Schweitzer was millions of years old. While scientists were struggling to make sense of this surprising discovery, a group of Christians became electrified by it. Those Christians who believe that the earth is merely thousands of years old saw this breakthrough as obvious evidence that scientists had miscalculated the dates for the dinosaurs. The discovery of soft tissue remains associated with fossils has become in recent years one of the most prominent scientific arguments for a young earth. In this careful analysis, biochemist Fazale Rana demonstrates the scientific plausibility of recovering soft tissue remnants from ancient sites. Rana also shows how traces of dinosaur blood claimed by some as evidence for a young earth instead strengthen the case for an old earth and, thus, for the reliability of Scripture.
116 pages, Paperback
Published May 2, 2016
7 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Fazale Rana
27 books57 followersBiochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana is president, CEO, and senior scholar at Reasons to Believe (RTB).
He earned a BS in chemistry with highest honors from West Virginia State College (now University) and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Ohio University. He pursued postdoctoral studies on cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia and worked as a senior scientist in research and development at Procter & Gamble. Additionally, Rana has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and delivered numerous presentations at international scientific meetings.
He was also featured in Museum of the Bible’s Scripture and Science exhibit in Washington, DC.
He earned a BS in chemistry with highest honors from West Virginia State College (now University) and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Ohio University. He pursued postdoctoral studies on cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia and worked as a senior scientist in research and development at Procter & Gamble. Additionally, Rana has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and delivered numerous presentations at international scientific meetings.
He was also featured in Museum of the Bible’s Scripture and Science exhibit in Washington, DC.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 14, 2016
Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the debate over the age of the earth. The full chapter-by-chapter review is available here: http://lukenixblog.blogspot.com/2016/...
October 6, 2025
The premise is that fragments of tissue can survive for millions of years in fossils. In the last chapter, Dr. Rana demonstrates several ways this is possible with the density of organic structures, the right temperatures, and isolation from the conditions which normally break down organic materials. That is an excellent chapter.
The rest of the chapters suffer from being apologetics, with mainly ramblings about Ripley's Believe It or Not and other irrelevant crap. They're not totally worthless. He lays out the Young Earth Creationist ideas he's trying to debunk and he shows a few instances where soft tissue seems to have survived for millions of years and seems to believe that's quite a common experience. I'm not a biochemist and he is so I suppose his opinion has more weight than mine, but I'm skeptical that it's that common. I think most soft tissue found on fossils is actually contamination.
He does touch on that claim a little, but he doesn't spend a whole lot of time trying to disprove it. I get that it's not the point of the book, but he could have spent more time proving that soft tissue surviving is as common as he thinks and less time on Ripley's Believe It or Not .
Appendix A is useful for understanding Dr. Rana's way of thinking. He makes what he feels is a Biblical case for an old earth, particularly day-age creationism. He admits he's not a Bible scholar at some point and that's fine, but it's a little disappointing he doesn't seem able to separate the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy from Biblical literalism. And a little worse, he is an actual scientist, yet he seems unwilling to accept the evidence for human evolution which not only doesn't defy Biblical inerrancy, but if an old earth doesn't defy Biblical literalism than neither does human evolution. The Bible literally describes God forming man from the ground. Oh well.
I would like to point out only the most basic knowledge of chemistry is required to understand the information he lays out. I took chemistry in high school two decades ago and I understood what he was saying.
The rest of the chapters suffer from being apologetics, with mainly ramblings about Ripley's Believe It or Not and other irrelevant crap. They're not totally worthless. He lays out the Young Earth Creationist ideas he's trying to debunk and he shows a few instances where soft tissue seems to have survived for millions of years and seems to believe that's quite a common experience. I'm not a biochemist and he is so I suppose his opinion has more weight than mine, but I'm skeptical that it's that common. I think most soft tissue found on fossils is actually contamination.
He does touch on that claim a little, but he doesn't spend a whole lot of time trying to disprove it. I get that it's not the point of the book, but he could have spent more time proving that soft tissue surviving is as common as he thinks and less time on Ripley's Believe It or Not .
Appendix A is useful for understanding Dr. Rana's way of thinking. He makes what he feels is a Biblical case for an old earth, particularly day-age creationism. He admits he's not a Bible scholar at some point and that's fine, but it's a little disappointing he doesn't seem able to separate the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy from Biblical literalism. And a little worse, he is an actual scientist, yet he seems unwilling to accept the evidence for human evolution which not only doesn't defy Biblical inerrancy, but if an old earth doesn't defy Biblical literalism than neither does human evolution. The Bible literally describes God forming man from the ground. Oh well.
I would like to point out only the most basic knowledge of chemistry is required to understand the information he lays out. I took chemistry in high school two decades ago and I understood what he was saying.
June 25, 2019
Will be interesting to check back on this as more information becomes available.
August 26, 2025
Good overview of the topic of soft tissue remains in fossils. A bit technical in its effort to be thorough, despite promising to stick as close as possible to layman’s terms, but considering the subject matter, perhaps it could not have been helped.
What I found distracting (and annoying) was the attempt to weave Ripley’s Believe it or Not into every chapter. Not necessary, but thanks.
I also found the appendix to be extremely relevant and thought it should have been given its own chapter.
What I found distracting (and annoying) was the attempt to weave Ripley’s Believe it or Not into every chapter. Not necessary, but thanks.
I also found the appendix to be extremely relevant and thought it should have been given its own chapter.
July 7, 2016
If you have any interest in dinosaurs and the age of the Earth, you should read this. At times it gets a bit technical but it's definitely worth the effort.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews