32,000-Year-Old Plant Brought Back to Life (Oldest Yet)

That's right, holding the record of being the oldest plant seed to be regenerated and grown, this discovery astonishes scientists and people alike. It is claimed that a Russian team of scientists discovered the seeds in a block of ice some 124 feet below the permafrost, most likely buried by an Ice Age squirrel near the banks of Kolyma River. They were also surrounded by layers of mammoth, bison, and woolly rhinoceros bones. They identified the plant as Silene stenophylla, a plant native to Siberia. The mature seeds were damaged, most likely by the squirrel. The immature seeds, however, remained usable plant material. The team brought the seeds back to a lab, extracted the seed tissue, and successfully germinated the seeds. Each of them grew to be different shapes, but the same plant all the same. Scientists are now discussing the issue at hand: may other plant life frozen beneath the permafrost be brought back to life? If so, will they be very useful to the world today? Regenerating seeds that have been frozen at 19 degrees Fahrenheit for so long could have varying results: they may grow, they may not. Although, plant saving projects like the one taken place in Russia, depend on freezing the seeds. The Missouri Botanical Garden's Raven quoted "If we can uncover the conditions that kept the seeds viable for 32,000 years, you'd be able to preserve seeds for longer."