One Step Closer

Today, we take one step closer to a world in which awesomeness itself roams the earth. From the New York Times, via an SA thread:

In a retrieval once thought unattainable, scientists have recovered and identified proteins in a bone of a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex that lived and died and was fossilized 68 million years ago.

The scientists say the success, with advanced research techniques, opens the door for the first time to the exploration of molecular-level relationships of ancient, extinct animals, instead of just relying on their skeletal remains.
... The extraction of DNA would be necessary for studies in dinosaur genetics and for cloning experiments.

Repeated analysis of the T-rex proteins, the researchers said, uncovered new evidence of a link between dinosaurs and birds, a widely held but contentious hypothesis. Three of the seven reconstructed protein sequences were closely related to chickens. The scientists resisted being drawn into speculation on the likely taste of a T-rex drumstick.

Emphases mine.

You know, there are a lot of good arguments for not cloning dinosaurs. People could get eaten. They're extinct for a reason. Diseases. It's not cost-efficient. There's no real benefit.

But I can think of one good reason to do it: