I'm constantly hearing news stories involving modern technology and DNA - how law enforcement is using modern forensic science to solve current and long-standing mysteries.
But how about THIS mystery?
I spent many a day in my childhood watching programs about the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot. Haven't we all wanted to believe at some time in our life that these creatures existed?
But I had a special monster all my own. I am a Missouri native. That means I grew up hearing about Momo the monster - Missouri's very own version of Bigfoot.
Missouri kids took this legend VERY seriously. When we were out on walking or bike trails at night, EVERY unexplained sound was attributed to Momo. We all tried to laugh it off - but we seriously believed we could possibly be attacked at any moment.
No, this isn't just a Jeff Angelo thing - Six Flags over Mid-America, located just outside of St. Louis, created a Momo the monster ride.
Back to identifying Nessie:
Whenever a creature moves through its environment, it leaves behind tiny fragments of DNA from skin, scales, feathers, fur, faeces and urine.
“This DNA can be captured, sequenced and then used to identify that creature by comparing the sequence obtained to large databases of known genetic sequences from hundreds of thousands of different organisms,” said team spokesman Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago in New Zealand.
Do they have dinosaur DNA in their database? Because that's what I hope is discovered.