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From: palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Dating age of humans
Message-ID: <3836@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: Sun, 30-Aug-87 19:19:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: cit-vax.3836
Posted: Sun Aug 30 19:19:24 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 31-Aug-87 03:44:23 EDT
References: <26333@sun.uucp> <1960@kitty.UUCP>
Sender: news@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu
Reply-To: palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu.UUCP (David Palmer)
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Lines: 22
Keywords: Ageing Human Carbon
Xref: utgpu sci.med:2719 sci.bio:568

In article <1960@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes:
>	First of all, radiocarbon dating (C14) only works on living matter
>that is now dead.  C14 intake stops at death, and the decay of residual
>C14 is used to determine absolute age.  Radiocarbon dating can be used
>to ascertain age up to about 50,000 years.  While radiocarbon dating is
>accurate to +/- 40 years, specimens which are less than 200 years old
>cannot be dated by this method.

If the technical problems with C14 dating of objects <200 years old
could be solved (assuming that they are merely technical problems)
could we date people by the C14 in their DNA in their nervous system?

Since neurons do not reproduce (much) after birth, the DNA does not
change (does it?) so the same carbon atoms remain in the DNA as at birth.

I do not volunteer for this experiment.

		David Palmer
		palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu
		...rutgers!cit-vax!tybalt.caltech.edu!palmer
	The opinions expressed are those of an 8000 year old Atlantuan
	priestess named Mrla, and not necessarily those of her channel.