Oldest Plant Grown From Ancient DNA

Recent developments in experiments with DNA preserved from the ancient mammoth have given us unforseen chances of bringing back species which have seemed till now to be extinct forever. It is an exciting time to live and study the discoveries which are appearing worldwide as we all join together to share information and the building blocks to our world.

Remember the saying : Are you squirreling away any money? Years ago I would watch the brown squirrels running along fences, up trees, jumping from branch to branch. I even watched as they cleaned out the pecan tree of perfect ripe nuts last fall. Now, who would have thought they would have been responsible for saving an extinct species of an ancient plant? Have you any idea how important this recent discovery may be to all of us on this Green planet of ours? It could mean recovering some nutritious food plants which could enhance our health as well as provide needed vitamins and minerals for our immune system over the next few years. It may be a good idea for us to use our binoculars and search for these little creatures who are a valuable natural resource.

This report is based on a newspaper article which appeared in my local newspaper 2/12/2002.

I am very excited about this news! We could be on the brink of being able to bring back lost plant species collected from tundra permafrost. This new report is by a team led by Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences research center at Pushchino, near Moscow.

This amazing breakthrough which is supported by a firm radiocarbon date is quite important to world science. One may ask how can this take place when a plant is extinct? The Russian researchers worked from a site called Duvanny Yar. They tried to germinate the champion seeds but failed to do it. Then they took seeds from the placenta, the organ in the fruit which produces the seeds. These cells were thawed out and grown in culture dishes into whole plants. This plant is known as Sylene Stenophylia. It was grown from 32,000 -year-old fruit tissue which was uncovered in Siberia. Plants were cultivated from immature seed cells. This is the oldest successful regeneration of a plant from ancient tissue. A date palm grown from a 2000 year old seed which was recovered from the ancient fortress called Masada in Israel was the oldest plant to be grown from ancient tissue before this important discovery.

How did these ancient seeds get saved in the first place?

It is determined that the fruit of this little plant was stored by small creatures such as the Arctic Ground Squirrel. Tens of thousands of these plant and flower materials were stored and preserved in the arctic tundra. The plant material was located in northeastern Siberia. Seeds and certain cells are able to last a longtime under the right conditions.

After the germination of plant material grown in a nutrient rich "goop", the seedlings were then transplanted into regular soil and grown into whole mature plants.

The Russian researchers excavated ancient squirrel burrows near the banks of the Kolyma River. This area is known to have been a home to the mammoth and wooly rhinoceroses during the last ice age.

There are various statements and opinions being expressed about this find being accurate and true.

Grant Zazula of the Yukon Paleontology Program at Whitehorse in Yukon Territory, Canada has stated.'"I have no doubt in my mind that this is a legitimate claim."' Correct radiocarbon dating is the proof which will distinguish the truth over time.

This scientific discovery opens the doors for other ancient species to be resurrected from permafrost. This includes plants which may have been long extinct.