Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

Author:      mike s
Text:        What is the blood like in the Mosquitos that are preserved in 
amber?  Is it coagulated, decomposed, or liquid?

Response #:  1 of 2
Author:      wizkid
Text:        Hmmm.  Sounds like a "Jurassic Park" question!  I think you 
figured out the major flaw in the reasoning behind where they got the dinosaur 
DNA.  The blood would most likely be coagulated after 50 million years, amber 
or not.  Mosquitos do secrete an anti-coagulant into their victims, to prevent 
the blood from coagulating during and after their meal, and it is this 
chemical which irritates us and causes the swelling and itching in a mosquito 
bite.  However, in a dead mosquito over time, the anticoagulant should break 
down allowing the blood in it to coagulate.  Try this:  next time you find a 
mosquito sucking your blood, let it be for a while, (resist the itch!), then 
try to capture it without damaging it, maybe by trapping it in a bottle.  Then 
pour something syrupy into the bottle (maple syrup?  sap?) to envelope the 
mosquito, and let it sit a week.  Now, cut the mosquito and see if liquid 
blood still flows.  If not, then you can write Steven Spielburg and ask if you 
can be the science advisor for his next movie!  But the special effects were 
great!

Response #:  2 of 2
Author:      ProfBill
Text:        Well, I am no Spielberg fan, but I am not sure that it matters if 
the blood is coagulated.  All you need is the DNA, which might well be intact.  
They certainly can do DNA fingerprint analysis from coagulated human blood, 
and have gotten sequence information from mummies!  Another clever bit (maybe 
unintentional) is that the red blood cells from humans do not have nuclei, so 
DNA would come only from the white cells; but red blood cells in reptiles (ie. 
dinosaurs) do have nuclei, so more DNA would be available.  So, I do not know:  
lock those doors at night!