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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDead for 32,000 Years, a Plant Is Revived
Living plants have been generated from the fruit of a little arctic flower, the narrow-leafed campion, that died 32,000 years ago, a team of Russian scientists reports. The fruit was stored by an arctic ground squirrel in its burrow on the tundra of northeastern Siberia and lay permanently frozen until excavated by scientists a few years ago.
This would be the oldest plant by far that has ever been grown from ancient tissue. The present record is held by a date palm grown from a seed some 2,000 years old that was recovered from the ancient fortress of Masada in Israel.
Seeds and certain cells can last a long term under the right conditions, but many claims of extreme longevity have failed on closer examination, and biologists are likely to greet this claim, too, with reserve until it can be independently confirmed. Tales of wheat grown from seeds in the tombs of the pharaohs have long been discredited. Lupines were germinated from seeds in a 10,000-year-old lemming burrow found by a gold miner in the Yukon. But the seeds, later dated by the radiocarbon method, turned out to be modern contaminants. . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/science/new-life-from-an-arctic-flower-that-died-32000-years-ago.html?_r=1&hp
Johnny Rico
(1,438 posts)Response to Johnny Rico (Reply #1)
Tesha This message was self-deleted by its author.
Johnny Rico
(1,438 posts)How close are we to actually cloning mammoths? I just did a quick bit of browsing, and found this:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/17/scientists-trying-to-clone-resurrect-extinct-mammoth/?hpt=T2
The scientists in this story say they're about 6 years from being able to clone a mammoth. Here's hoping!
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I love this kind of time travel stuff.
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)I was hoping it was a flesh-eater. Like the one from Little Shop of Horrors.
It's pretty, though, for something that doesn't eat Republicans.
shoots barbs like in jumanji!
flobee1
(870 posts)before monsanto patents it?
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)reminded me of edelweiss...not really close but, a little white flower nonetheless:
KT2000
(20,577 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom