News Paleontology

Salty Old Cellulose: Tiny fibers found in ancient halite deposits

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

Researchers have unearthed the planet’s oldest-known intact biological macromolecules, microscopic bits of cellulose from 253-million-year-old salt deposits in the southwestern United States.

ANCIENT ROPES. This mat of small cellulose fibrils, each between 5 and 16 nanometers across, was extracted from 253-million-year-old salt deposits in New Mexico and includes the oldest intact biological macromolecules yet isolated and analyzed.