Russian scientists have resurrected an arctic flower, the narrow-leafed campion, that died 32,000 years ago, which would make it the oldest plant ever grown from ancient tissue:
The Russian researchers excavated ancient squirrel burrows exposed on the bank of the lower Kolyma River, an area thronged with mammoth and woolly rhinoceroses during the last ice age. Soon after being dug, the burrows were sealed with windblown earth, buried under 125 feet of sediment and permanently frozen at minus 7 degrees Celsius.
Some of the storage chambers in the burrows contain more than 600,000 seeds and fruits. Many are from a species that most closely resembles a plant found today, the narrow-leafed campion (Silene stenophylla).
Working with a burrow from the site called Duvanny Yar, the Russian researchers tried to germinate the campion seeds, but failed. They then took cells from the placenta, the organ in the fruit that produces the seeds. They thawed out the cells and grew them in culture dishes into whole plants.
Bringing back ancient, long-dead beings back to life? What could possibly go wrong? Link
Comments (3)
I can't wait until the russians and japanese clone a wooly mammoth in a year or two.
Though I do worry about when scientists start reviving long extinct bacteria,viruses and fungi. Last thing we need it so let lose some virus that no modern animals, plants, or humans have immunity for. Imagine letting loose some new rust fungi or a mosaic virus that attacks wheat or corn crops.
It would be like saying you can't use a high powered sniper rifle from behind a rock to hunt a deer, but instead you have to walk up to it, offer it a carrot instead, and then I guess slip a bag over its head to suffocate it to death.