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Russian Scientists Revive Plant From 30,000-Year-Old Seeds
An anonymous reader writes "It was an Ice Age squirrel's treasure chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years. From the fruit tissues, a team of Russian scientists managed to resurrect an entire plant in a pioneering experiment that paves the way for the revival of other species. The Silene stenophylla is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated, the researchers said, and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds. ... 'The squirrels dug the frozen ground to build their burrows, which are about the size of a soccer ball, putting in hay first and then animal fur for a perfect storage chamber,' said Stanislav Gubin, one of the authors of the study, who spent years rummaging through the area for squirrel burrows. 'It's a natural cryobank.'"
You don't usually see something like this in your gardening store.
Ezekiel 23:20
Another Ice Age sequel *facepalm*
Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
Well the question is, how can you know anything about an extinct ecosystem? And therefore, how could you ever assume that you can control it? I mean, you have plants in this building that are poisonous. You picked them because they look good. But these are aggressive living things that have no idea what century they're in, and they'll defend themselves, violently if necessary.
obviously less than ideal conditions, but isn't this an already well known cycle that occurs at the end of every ice age?
Species previously thought extinct (or endangered) reappeared with changes in climate conditions.
Interesting work none the less.
.. plant revives you!
Yeah -- reviving all the species we've killed with our careless exploitation of the planet.
Scientists just come along and steal the food you've had stashed for 30,000 years... being a squirrel is rough.
Am I missing some major potential social or environmental benefit to doing this?
It proves that it's possible to grow plants from long-frozen seeds, so shows its worth preserving (freezing) seeds just in case something really bad happens to the living plants. (This has already happened, where species have been wiped out in the wild by mining and forestry, then reintroduced once the companies have left.)
The techniques might be useful for other, more recently extincted (?) species.
And it's challenging and interesting, that is reason enough.
Apparently they haven't seen this movie in Russia yet
The plant might contain the cure for cancer, aids, altzheimers, etc. Then again, it might just taste good mixed in a tossed salad.
do we have to know the benefit up front? So maybe we recover some extinct species that got wiped out by your invasive ones. Or maybe we find a bunch of seeds, grow the plant and find out it's the perfect plant for producing biofuels. Or maybe we restore some lost Amazonian species that just happens to lead to a cure for cancer. Who knows, isn't it worth trying?
The plans contain the cure for cancer or maybe HIV or maybe the common cold? Don't dismIss it until after it Is studied
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Isn't there like a Flat Earth Society website that you anti-science douchebags can hang out?
Just what I need - another plant to be allergic to.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
Did you fail at math? Homo Sapiens originated about 200,000 years ago. Last time I checked, 30,000 was less than 200,000.
Human impact on the environment goes back before humans existed? That's impressive.
(Different A/C here)
Anatomically, we're 200,000 years old. Behaviorally, we're 50,000 years old (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human).
You fool, humans have existed for at least 100,000 years
Take my HELIX FOSSIL. I'll be right back.
Was Scrat's acorn in there too? Did the poor little guy ever get his treasure?
If you read the article, which a lot of people on Slashdot don't do, a lot of scientists are skeptical, but even if the Russians did exactly what they said they did, they didn't grow the plants from seeds in the normal sense. They basically cloned the plants, growing them from cells in the seeds--if only a few cells are alive, they could be cloned but it probably wouldn't be enough for the seeds to sprout.
It will spray it's euro toxin at the researchers and take over their bodies with it's spores. commanding it's new plant zombie army to take over the world!
and it will have fabulous parties.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Did you fail at math?
Obviously he went to high school in Texas. He probably did very well in math.
Have we learned NOTHING from Jurassic Park?
Am I missing some major potential social or environmental benefit to doing this?
You mean besides knowing yet another way we can undo some of the damage we've caused to this planet?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
No one said they was releasing it in the wild. I'd imagine it's being kept in a lab. This is good in several ways. The technique proved successful in reviving something old, and you now have a plant to provide genetic comparison from 30,000 years ago compared to now. Having such info can only be good in genetic research especially in regards to evolution. Who knows, this plant may be a cancer curer though probably not. It's research, you just can't measure it's importance until we are long dead usually since something small can lead to something big.
Bad news, the plant turns out to be carnivorous. The good news, at least we know why the Mammoths died out.
My mistake, I missed a zero. Funny how many different numbers I see flying around for how old humans are, yet everyone's up in arms about a simple oversight.
Apparently your place is a good start! I stated an observation and solicited feedback. Isn't that how the scientific community works? You don't seem to like that approach though.
Thank you for posting the only sensible reply with actual substance. I appreciate your honest, meaningful response!
... get over it, move on, do something productive for TODAY.
Like... stop posting on /.?
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Then again, it might just taste good mixed in a tossed salad.
I've heard that it improves the taste of beef synthesized from stem cells.
Ezekiel 23:20
Also gives some urgency to actually looking hard at the permafrost before it melts.
No telling what else is frozen in there that we might find handy or decorative to revive (besides mammoths, of course).
...I really have to question the idea of bringing back life that ceased to exist thousands, and eventually possibly millions, of years ago. Jurassic Park jokes aside, I hope they will take adequate precautions to not bring back something that could wind up being disastrous on the CURRENT iteration of Earth. I'm all for stuff like this, I just hope they err on the side of caution before bringing back random plants and introducing them into a modern ecosystem that has evolved well beyond when some of those plants will have existed.
"I hope you know how very lucky you are to know me, because I am so incredibly incredible."
They died for a reason- get over it, move on, do something productive for TODAY.
Why? So you can bitch about that too?
You've already posted before about how if it doesn't benefit you personally, it shouldn't matter to anyone.
You are just a short sighted selfish anti-science anti-progress miserable excuse for a human being.
No you didn't, you stated:
So rather than being curious as to what the purpose of this was (since your question was rhetorical, as you obviously don't care about the responses) you insisted that they stop doing this and do something else. What that might be I can't fathom.
Your post indicates little to no actual curiosity and rather indignation that they are doing something you perceive to not be valuable. So yeah, you're gonna get flamed.
Say what you will about Russia, but it is the next China.
They could accelerate it by taking up Mises economics and reducing the influence of the mob.
If it was legal for a US citizen I would help them spike their economy.
JJ
My mistake, I missed a zero. Funny how many different numbers I see flying around for how old humans are, yet everyone's up in arms about a simple oversight.
Hi there, you must be new to Slashdot. Welcome to Slashdot.
yeah, that stuff just doesn't have the quite the zing of something that died properly in agony spouting blood. I think they should rectify that by putting brains, nerves, ciculatory and endocrine systems from stem cells into that meat.
How is a mammoth either handy or decorative?
It *might* be handy... but then you would be taking the Flintstones a little too seriously.
Well, it's an awful lot of meat... I'd imagine that there'd be a LOT of people willing to pay a premium for a nice mammoth steak, perhaps served with a nice reduction of merlot and portabello mushrooms.. not to mention the fact that you could use the other parts too: Ice Age Oysters, anyone?
You could make a rug out of it's pelt. Then there's the tusks... and you could powder the bones and sell it as an aphrodisiac.
Why, the possibilities are endless!
Regards,
dj
FTA:
The burrows were located 125 feet (38 meters) below the present surface in layers containing bones of large mammals, such as mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, bison, horse and deer...
Gubin said the study has demonstrated that tissue can survive ice conservation for tens of thousands of years, opening the way to the possible resurrection of Ice Age mammals.
Ice Age mammals might be useful today. If nothing else it would be pretty cool to see a mammoth or a wooly rhino..
...IT'S OVER 9000!!!
Something a lot of people seem to be missing: this is not an extinct species. These are seeds from a plant that is still alive and growing wild in Siberia to this very day.
He failed at math but aced his bible classes.
I absolutely agree with you that threatened plants should be preserved. There is a problem, though, and that is some plants are very adapted to a tiny environmental niche. By way of example, there are prairie flowers here in Minnesota that grow only on the south side of sandy glacial moraines in a few mile radius from Glendalough State Park. According to park rangers, efforts to plant them in cultivation elsewhere have failed, as have efforts to transplant them elsewhere in the state. It's something about the soil, the drainage, the natural fertilizers, the rain, the light, the humidity, the temperatures, the snowfall, the bugs, the freezing, all coming together so intricately that nobody knows which environmental cues are required to grow them.
Overall, this plant does not have great survival traits. And as such, I'd guess that such a plant isn't adding much to the ecosystem. But as often happens with wildflowers, there may be a certain pollinator that is finely adapted to it, meaning that if the plant dies, that specialized moth/fly/insect may die with it. So while the plant may not be directly critical to humans, it's still having some impact on its environment.
In terms of "what is the most important plant to save", this wouldn't be at the top of the list. And in terms of "if we have storage space to save only 100,000 different seeds, so let's save the ones we know we can grow back", it also won't make the cut. But in terms of "what plants are so threatened that we should preserve their seeds while a few still exist?" it might make that list.
John
#whatcouldpossiblygowrong
Pi Ran Out
Why have most people decided that the current ecosystems on Earth are as they should be forever? It seems like there is this desire to correct anything that results in population balance changes. Do we really think that we can stop all environmental and evolutionary change on Earth forever?
Things have been changing for a long time with and without our direct intervention.
Invasive species suck sometimes. They can cause a loss in species diversity. They can also be a tremendous driving force for adaptation by the struggling native species. Every species could have been considered invasive at some point in history or they would have never become established. I'm not condoning wanton spreading of species around the world, but I don't think it's going to cause some sort of complete ecological collapse if some weed starts growing in peoples backyards.
Terminator genes would have made this sort of thing impossible.
"Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
That would mean he aced his math classes since 6000 is less than 30,000.
A bloke round here found a tree MILLIONS of years old and it was still ALIVE. http://www.wollemipine.com/aboutwp.php
I miss you Slashdot--the old Slashdot that is. Your comments used to be insightful and thought provoking. Now I just click on the comments to see if I've rightly guessed the particular flavor of insipid drivel you're producing these days. I know you're still out there somewhere, but like me, I think you lurk because any intelligent and informative comment will just be lost on people whose goal in life is to see "(Score:5, Funny)" after their post title. Where have the scientists, dreamers, geeks and ethical hackers gone? Where did all the CSI watching, fear-mongering, smart ass posers come from? Please let me know if we can meet somewhere, preferably in private, and recapture the glory. You know how to reach me.
The world got stupider my friend, hadn't you noticed?
No you're way more than a zero off. Homo Erectus originated nearly 2 million years ago. So even if it had been 300,000 rather than 30,000 you're still nearly an order of magnitude off from being even remotely right.
Kind of like the Venus Flytrap. Contrary to popular belief, it is native to the coastal plains of North/South Carolina, not some exotic tropical jungle. Efforts to introduce them elsewhere have mostly failed, even though apparently someone has done so in New Jersey. I have a nice small colony which I grow outside year round in Maryland, but it requires upkeep. These plants would never survive here without my help. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? H'mm, those plants look a little big to be eating just insects. Are they supposed to be moving like that? Wait a #y!(132~a... NO_CARRIER
"Be grateful for what you have. You may never know when you may lose it."
Perhaps they have the DNA of a species of creature (from the creatures blood) in the body of a mosquito which accidentally fell into some amber. They can extract the DNA of the creature from the blood held in the mosquito and resequence the DNA, adding bits of DNA from ...say a frog or amphibian. But then the animal...creature gets loose on the island, and the people need to get off the island via helicopter because "Danger, objects in mirror are closer than they appear", and I've seen the movie. Still, its impressive what they did. Not like the movie mind you, but still impressive.
*Snort* Now I need to clean my display.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
That would be the same district that redefined pi as 3?
I know, I know. urban legend. It's still funny though. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
And that's just going back to erectus. Everything in Homo is definitely "human" and habilis is at least 2.3 million years ago with no reason to believe it's the earliest. But even that is a bit stingy for my taste. I think it's fair to consider anything in Hominina to be human. How long ago Hominina arose is unclear, but there is some evidence for an age of at least 7 million years and other evidence that it cannot exceed about 5.5 million years.
Now go play, kid, the grown-ups are talking.
You don't appear to be one of those grown-ups though.
Exactly. And even if none of that works out. What the hell? Why not? "Because we can" works for me.
Something a lot of people seem to be missing: this is not an extinct species. These are seeds from a plant that is still alive and growing wild in Siberia to this very day.
This is not an adequate summary. They are seeds from a plant that's the 30,000-year-old ancestor of the plants that are alive today. There will be differences. The differences will be worth studying.
It's probably more likely something to do with fungus and other organisms.
[I work at a botanic garden (as a software developer). Posting anonymously as I could be easily identified otherwise.]
I absolutely agree with you that threatened plants should be preserved. There is a problem, though, and that is some plants are very adapted to a tiny environmental niche. By way of example, there are prairie flowers here in Minnesota that grow only on the south side of sandy glacial moraines in a few mile radius from Glendalough State Park.
Do you know what it's called? I could look it up in our databases, and see if we have it (in the botanic garden, or in the seedbank).
In terms of "what is the most important plant to save", this wouldn't be at the top of the list.
It may well be near it, if a small change to its environment could wipe it out.
And in terms of "if we have storage space to save only 100,000 different seeds, so let's save the ones we know we can grow back", it also won't make the cut.
The seed bank here has over 1 billion seeds, covering over 10% of all plant species. The aim is to bank *all* species -- though present techniques prevent some kinds of seed from being preserved (e.g. palm seeds, like coconuts, which are very wet, are difficult. I think they have to freeze the embryo in liquid nitrogen).
Is upon us! Make sure to stock up on incendiaries and rations.
"It proves that it's possible to grow plants from long-frozen seeds, so shows its worth preserving (freezing) seeds"
Actually it doesn't. Don't know if this article mentions it, but anyway, in this case the plants were cloned from embryonic parts of the frozen plants, no seeds involved.
The cloned plants developed seeds later on, like always.
Joan Rivers and some parts of Cher are even older than that.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
When I was at University, the college chapel organ was replaced and, in the interval, the company supplied an electronic organ. The College chaplain took the organist (now a professor at Oxford), pointed at the banjo stop and said "If you ever pull that you're never going to play the organ here again!" I am pretty sure he managed it more than once without the Chaplain noticing a thing.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
no, humanity evolved when we left Africa. The negroid race lacks the brain power to be civilized.
Since its 300,000 years old from seed to flowering, would that not define it as the world's oldest living thing?
I for one welcome our recently-resurrected clone Dodo overlords.
Who owns the copyright?
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
...but how does it TASTE?
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Krynoid
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Seeds_of_Doom
For shame... for shame...
No one remembers their Tom Baker Dr. Who episodes.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Thank you Skrat
We should be really careful with any alien spaceships we run across though.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
Gene sequencing for plants is still pretty much in its infancy. Species differentiation is still done visually, by-and-large.
Unless and until they do gene sequencing and find significant enough variance between the two, they will be classified as the same species (at least judging from the meager details in the article). The likelihood of there being enough variances for that to be the case is small, though still possible. The changes (or lack thereof) are worth studying, but jumping to the conclusion it is a separate species requires substantive proof when none currently exists.
It'll mean plenty of jobs to deal with it and scientific progress !
Jurassic Park meets little shop of horrors!
Hope Rick Moranis isnt in this one!
Do you know what it's called? I could look it up in our databases, and see if we have it (in the botanic garden, or in the seedbank).
I wish I remembered. It was about 10 years ago, and my son's scout troop did a service project harvesting some geum triflorum (prairie smoke) seeds for the ranger. They were drying them out for distribution to prairie restoration projects. We stored them in a shed, and as we delivered the seeds he told us of this other nearby endangered flower that they had no success transplanting. It might have been "Frenchman's Bluff moonwort".
John