Extinct tree grows anew from ancient jar of seeds unearthed by archaeologists.

nighthawk1954

buster2010
If this tree was wiped out in 500AD then how do they know they have one? This could be any type of date palm tree.

I am trying to find further research , but it sounds like the real deal.

Just think , with all the crap in the world...this could be cool!

They have nothing to test against. If they were to have a piece of wood or something like that they could do some kind of genetic test. Btw one of these trees was supposed have been grown back in 08.

MALBOSIA

OccamsRazor04

MALBOSIA

OccamsRazor04

MALBOSIA
On topic:

Wow, you found a seed. Good for you.

edit on 7-10-2013 by MALBOSIA because: (no reason given)

Pretty much your whole post was sheer ignorance, culminating in your saying bringing back an entire extinct species to life is a simple achievement that isn't noteworthy.

What else would I expect from someone like you though.

Hey hey, whats this "like you " BS?

Curious....

Blind hatred towards Jews, where everything is their fault somehow.

Ultra orthodox Jews are no different than the same extremity if Christianity or Islam. These guys follow the book to the letter. I expressed my view on certain sect of a religion that might take the content of the OP a little too serious. You come at me with accusations of bigotry... Lame.

Is Israel a religious extremest state taken by violence in the 20th century and relying on violence and religious based propaganda in order to survive ever since? I know the answer to that one. YES!

You resurrect that plant in a region inhabited by religious extremists who's scripture describes such an event as the sign of the end.... and then call it a GOOD thing?
How do you know that plant wasn't supposed to be dead? Maybe nature intended that. Just because it was written in some fictional book, that is good enough reason to resurrect it?

The average Joe Jew wouldn't care or read into it that much. The focus of my statement was towards the ultra orthodox breed that may read into this like the rest of their book, too much.

SO that is what you take out of this story???

StoutBroux

new_here
If you come up with an idea for the airtight lid on a baked clay pot, please share. Very interested!

I was thinking of a clay pot with a flat lid that fit as perfectly as possible using a natural resin or even a heavy wax as bonding agent, any ideas? How were the OP seeds stored? That might be the answer.

That thought came to my mind too. I think the jar was sealed, perhaps not even airtight, in some cool shaded nook/cranny. It is not specified in what state the jar was recovered, only during an excavation, which would make sense that it somehow got confined in an increasingly airtight environment over the years underground.

There are many different methods of adhesion derived from plants and animals, I think that could play a part, but being buried saved the seeds imo

reply to post by buster2010


Yep, the article references that:

But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout.

It seemed to work, and in 2005, National Geographic covered it.

November 22, 2005
A sapling germinated earlier this year from a 2,000-year-old date palm seed is thriving, according to Israeli researchers who are cultivating the historic plant.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Now, if Burpee seed company starts selling these!

Thanks for posting this! Love things like this,

Incredible!

Jimjolnir
reply to post by new_here

 

What about resin or tar to seal the lid on the pot?

Trying to find out how these seed were found - (I mean) what container they were found in.

It'll be interesting to find out how different the genetics are to modern date palm.

Great ideas! Thanks! Keep us posted if you discover anything about how they were stored.

reply to post by nighthawk1954


Awesome story, thanks for sharing. This statement in the article makes me mad though,

"It has been proposed that the tree be cross-bred with closely related palm types,"

Nothing is ever left alone and enjoyed as it's original form. And likely these same people will preach about the harms of invasive species and the effects humans have on nature.

reply to post by nighthawk1954


The Messiah has to come through the golden gate and palms or more specifically these very palms leaves have to be spread out before him, now for us as Christian's we already accept that christ fullfulled this prophecy when such palm leaves were spread out before him and he rode into jerusalem on a colt but he will come again according to our very belief and not in the kind guise but as a judge of almighty god's wrath and the prophecy of his second coming aligns rather nicely with parts of the Jewish belief of his coming, so the palm is now not extinct and will flourish again throughout the promised land and how long will it be before the wall if knocked down or the gate unbricked to allow the fullfilment of the prophecy.

The wall was bricked up and closed by the Arabs to prevent the Jew's praying and is still sealed to this day.

Either way back from the religious stuff this is truly interesting and I wonder what geneticaly pure original seed like this may tell a geneticist if he can find any later example of the specific genome and what variation to the more common date may be found, I hope to eat some of these date's in my lifetime.

It's a feel good story. I'm glad they have seed banks in Lapland or wherever. I like the idea of human friendly parts of nature beating the death system once in a while.

reply to post by nighthawk1954


Old news...
That happened in year 2005.

News from 2005.

Kibbutz Katura, Israel: June 9, 2005: The date tree (center) that was succesfully germenated from a 2000 year old seed found on the ancient Jewish Archeological site of Masada.

new_here
A jar of these seeds unearthed? If forests of these things grew abundantly, then there would have been no real reason to save seeds, until the trees began to be wiped out by the invading armies.

Some smart dude (or dudette) had the presence of mind to create a lil seed vault for them in the desert... good on him/her!

A lesson for us all? (In the wake of GM seeds-- perhaps I'll dig a hole out back and find a suitable jar...)

They would always have saved the seeds, either to feed animals, to use for the next season or just for eating themselves. They probably had a corner in a granary or house room that they kept them in. But after a flood, earthquake or drought, the place would have been abandoned and buried over by sand and sediment.

reply to post by AbleEndangered


Its not a miracle, its science. its simple

Nice post. The article says they found a stockpile of seeds. Wonder why they haven't tried to grow more trees.

reply to post by nighthawk1954


Simply amazing! Would love to explore the nutritional properties of this seed as well its other constituents. Imagine the implications if we can learn what preserves seeds for this long, and then apply it to human health if possible...

DonVoigt
I like to read a lot of different perspectives on the state of humanity, now I don't know if this is something I read in nostradamus, or Casey Or the bible but if I remember correctly who was it that wrote about extinct species of plants coming back in the end times, would an event like a species of tree that was extinct fall into that category

I am pretty sure it was the Bible, and the reference was when flowers bloom in the desert. Isaiah 35:2

reply to post by buster2010

Buster I truly respect all of your post, lets give a chance to these guys......some good news for a change?

Great news OP. Thanks. As a gardener, I love it!

On the subject of Egyptian seeds; I had a friend who was a celiac (could not eat wheat gluten) and he told me about some Egyptian wheat that was being grown from ancient seeds and this wheat was gluten free; which is good news for celiacs.

Which brings me to GM foods. Personally, I'm gung 'ho for GM. I don't see the big issue. The truth is that most of what we eat today has been genetically modified. All the grains and probably all of the veggies that we grow today have been genetically modified by humans for centuries. Even cows, chickens, pigs, etc. have all been "modified". Your best bet for "natural" foods would be to hunt and fish for truly wild species like deer, wild turkey, and most seafood. There is very little in the "natural" plant kingdom that we could sustain ourselves on. Nuts and berries would be our best bet.

I know, I know. Some of you are going to say, "But, that's different...genetic modification via breeding is not the same as what is done in the lab." That's your opinion; which you are entitled to. But, my opinion is that it's really not that different and that the positive possibilities FAR outweigh the negatives.

Two cases in point: Sweet Corn came about in the 1800's by way of a genetic defect that prevented the plant from converting all of the sugar to starch...GM. The Egyptian wheat shows that wheat gluten is also a genetic change that occurred after the Egyptians and it causes some people a lot of problems.

nighthawk1954
reply to post by buster2010

 

Buster I truly respect all of your post, lets give a chance to these guys......some good news for a change?

I hope that it is a Judean date palm. To bring a species back from extinction is quite a feat. I would just want tests done to make sure it is one. Here's a video on it.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Haha, yeah. if only it were this "easy"