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Published online 14 July 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050711-12
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Carbon dating works for cells
Radioactive fallout from nuclear tests serves as measuring stick.
If wisdom comes with age, then brain cells are some of the wisest in the body: researchers have applied carbon dating to DNA to confirm that cells in the brain live longer than most others.
This is a new application for the technique, which is traditionally used in archaeology and palaeoanthropology to pinpoint the age of fossils.
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