Jilara (jilara) wrote,
Jilara
jilara
  • Mood: elated

My ethnobotanist heart is thrilled

Ancient seed sprouts and grows! Film at eleven! This is better than trying to regrow a mammoth from frozen DNA, because it actually worked. And they didn't think it would, but gave it their best shot, anyway.

They have successfully sprouted a 2000-year-old date palm seed recovered from an archeological dig at Masada. Yes, that's the actual date on it. It was dated by carbon 14. They have taken a leaf from the seedling to analyze its DNA against that of present-day palms.

I hope it survives and thrives. I want to have its children... Um, that didn't come out right.

Ancient Palm Sprout
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