Enamel birefringence helps in the recovery of proteins from human mature enamel

After enamel birefringence has identified reasonable amounts of organic matter volume close to the enamel surface, a new technique to recover small amounts of proteins from human mature enamel was developed and reported recently (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2011 doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.030). This report has implications in forensic sciences, anthropology and evolution. New ways of recovering nitrogen isotopes (and data from diet) from mature enamel are under development.