2000-Year-Old Judean Date Tree Seed Sprouts

Makarand writes "A date palm seed found during archaeological excavations at King Herod's palace on Mount Masada, near the Dead Sea, and whose age was confirmed to be 2000 years by carbon dating techniques has sprouted into a young tree.This historic seedling which sprouted 4 weeks after planting has grown six leaves and one has been removed for DNA tests. Scientists hope that the unique seedling will eventually yield vital clues to the medicinal properties of the fruit of the Judean date tree chronicled in the Bible and the Quran and which was long thought to be extinct."

Comments

Re:jurassic park anyone?

[Erbo]

I dunno...we seem to have enough trouble with plants that are current species but that get introduced into new environments. A good example is the giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), which was brought from the Caucasus in Russia into Europe and now infests portions of the U.S., and is pretty nasty stuff. (It was immortalized in a Genesis song from their progressive-rock days, "The Return of the Giant Hogweed.")

Not that this date tree will necessarily be as bad, mind you.