 Studies of dinosporin composition and structure are complicated by the fact that the cysts have to either have the cell contents effectively removed (cysts generated in culture) or be individually picked (cysts from sediments) in order to ensure sample purity.The culture-derived cysts risk condensation of the cell content and modification of the cyst wall while the cysts picked from sediment are time consuming to acquire and may have been altered by post-mortem processes.For example, the macromolecular composition of the fossil dinoflagellate cyst "Thalassiphora pelagica" was analyzed, but post-mortem alteration was noted.