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Published online 6 August 2003 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news030804-4
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Nanofossils may be digested organic matter
Alleged remains of tiny ancient bacteria could just be balls of protein.
Tiny geological features thought by some to be the fossil remains of primitive bacteria are probably nothing more than fossilized lumps of lifeless protein, say two US scientists.
The structures, dubbed nanobacteria, are typically 50-200 millionths of a millimetre across.
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