Sapling from 2000-Yr.-Old Seed Growing in Israel

[Adam's Apple]

Posted just as a curiosity - that seed must surely be the oldest thing they have ever found with life still in it.

Researchers Hoping for A Date with History
By Joel Greenberg, Chicago Tribune
Published March 1, 2007

JERUSALEM -- In quarantine under protective netting, a palm sapling coaxed from a seed nearly 2,000 years old is growing in southern Israel.
Researchers nurturing the plant, nicknamed Methuselah after the biblical figure said to have lived 969 years, are worried about the seedling's exposure to modern pests.

for full article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...10202mar01,1,6447755.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

 

[boedicca]

I love stuff like this. I go through spurts of baking bread - and did some reading on various types of grain. There have been cases of old wheat berries germinating and being used to cross breed with modern strains - but I didn't find anything this old!

 

[Scooter]

Posted just as a curiosity - that seed must surely be the oldest thing they have ever found with life still in it.

While cool, there are lots of other living things far older:

http://www.extremescience.com/OldestLivingThing.htm

 

[Adam's Apple]

Really interesting stuff, Scooter. Thanks for the link.