Russian scientists revive an ice age flower
Russian scientists revive an ice age flower
By Amina Khan / The Los Angeles Times
Saturday, February 25, 2012 - Added 30 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - A plant that was frozen in Siberian permafrost for about 30,000 years has been revived by a team of Russian scientists - and borne fruit, to boot.
Using tissue from immature fruits buried in fossil squirrel burrows some 90 feet below the surface, researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Pushchino managed to coax the frozen remains of a Silene stenophylla specimen into full flower, producing delicate white blooms and then fruit.
The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describe what is a record for reviving presumably dead plant tissue - and may provide clues as to what makes some plants hardier and longer-lived than others.
"I’m absolutely thrilled with the result," said Grant Zazula, a paleontologist with the Yukon government in Canada who reviewed the study for the journal. "I’ve always been excited for the potential of something like this being successful."
More:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/general/view/20120225russian_scientists_revive_an_ice_age_flower/
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