'We sectioned the cells using a focused ion beam, which is like a really high-powered, ultra-small knife and we stained the nuclei to see if there was any DNA - but we didn't find anything. We compared it with red blood cells from birds and it showed some morphological similarities. The blood cells have nuclei and you don't find those in mammals, so it must be a reptilian red blood cell. 'We don't think it is from modern contamination. In 2015, Susie and her colleagues discovered what they interpreted to be red blood cells inside a Cretaceous dinosaur fossil bone. So even if a dinosaur's blood was found inside an ancient insect, an opportunity to recreate the reptile from it isn't guaranteed.
When under specific circumstances blood does preserve, it doesn't mean that scientists will find DNA in it.
'The idea that we may one day find a mosquito or biting fly from the Mesozoic with some parts of the blood still preserved is not outrageous,' says Susie.
