is it possible to bring back to life an extinct species of tree by simply treating and planting a seed of it?
Hello and Good Evening Everyone,
After reading this rather scientific intriguing article at https://returntonow.net/2019/01/16/extinct-tree-brought-back-to-life-from-2000-year-old-seeds-archaeologists-found-in-a-clay-jar/?fbclid=IwAR07q4dEZr8c065jVS1Zr6NW6QDkVF70OSPHE6y05jrPQFVknt4dUIznksQ , I have the following question: Is it possible to bring back to life an extinct species of tree by simply planting a seed of this extinct tree? It seems to me that the seed would be dead and can not be expected to bring to life any species of tree or living plant. But, could the seed itself be treated somehow scientifically and then planted in order to bring to life this extinct tree as indicated within the article? Unfortunately, my scientific knowledge is merely limited to the general courses required to obtain my college degree in addition to never having a botany course per se.
Any shared thoughts regarding this question will be appreciated.
Thank you
George
After reading this rather scientific intriguing article at https://returntonow.net/2019/01/16/extinct-tree-brought-back-to-life-from-2000-year-old-seeds-archaeologists-found-in-a-clay-jar/?fbclid=IwAR07q4dEZr8c065jVS1Zr6NW6QDkVF70OSPHE6y05jrPQFVknt4dUIznksQ , I have the following question: Is it possible to bring back to life an extinct species of tree by simply planting a seed of this extinct tree? It seems to me that the seed would be dead and can not be expected to bring to life any species of tree or living plant. But, could the seed itself be treated somehow scientifically and then planted in order to bring to life this extinct tree as indicated within the article? Unfortunately, my scientific knowledge is merely limited to the general courses required to obtain my college degree in addition to never having a botany course per se.
Any shared thoughts regarding this question will be appreciated.
Thank you
George
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Martin Nguyen
That is the idea behind the Norway Seed Bank.
Martin:
Yes it is about frozen and I enjoyed reading the article.
Yes it is about frozen and I enjoyed reading the article.
ASKER
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your insights into this intriguing question. I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's comments and found them to be enlightening and thought-provoking to the question asked here.
George
George
Thanks and for asking an interesting question.
Seeds can lie dormant for a very, very long time waiting for the right conditions. The Rose of Jericho / Anastatica (or Resurrection Plant) lives in very arid conditions and ends up as tumbleweed. The seeds of that plant can survive for many years waiting for the right conditions. There are various forms of dormancy and conditions that break the dormancy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_dormancy
Martin Nguyen mentioned the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Unfortunately it was recently discovered that certain seeds are not tolerant of being frozen at -18 degrees celcius and could never be germinated after being subjected to this. I cannot recall off the top of my head where I read or heard this nor whether the information was specific enough to name the seeds that would be adversely affected, but I know that I read or heard it correctly.
Many seeds actually require their seeds to be frozen over the Winter or they will not germinate at all. I suppose the non-technical explanation would be that the freezing cracks the shells of the seeds and kick-starts the embryo to allow germination when the temperature rises above freezing. It would be reasonable to assume that the seeds of plants growing in countries with fairly stable and warm climates are never subjected to freezing and that these would be the most likely ones that do not tolerate freezing.
My only resource for this knowledge is what I remembered of my Biology classes in my last year of school that equated to 1st year University level, and the instructions on a packet of seeds I bought many years ago to grow some exotic bonsai trees that said they needed to be put in the freezer for a couple of weeks before attempts were made to germinate them. Search "cold stratification of seeds" for more information.
From a personal viewpoint I have to question the validity of such an expensive repository of seeds. I understand the benefit of keeping seeds of crop plants that provide food in case there are dustbowl droughts and crops can be replanted after rain returns, but keeping seeds of hardwood rainforest trees? Humans are destroying swathes of rainforest to populate the areas with cash crops. This in turn will ruin the soil structure and it would take a very long time to try and return it to a suitable medium to try and replant those rainforests that were ripped out. In that respect I think it is as misguided as trying to reintroduce animals to particular continents a long time after they became extinct there. In the intervening time the habitats for them have changed so drastically that the animals reintroduced require constant "management" to allow them to thrive alongside other invasive species that occupied their slot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_dormancy
Martin Nguyen mentioned the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. Unfortunately it was recently discovered that certain seeds are not tolerant of being frozen at -18 degrees celcius and could never be germinated after being subjected to this. I cannot recall off the top of my head where I read or heard this nor whether the information was specific enough to name the seeds that would be adversely affected, but I know that I read or heard it correctly.
Many seeds actually require their seeds to be frozen over the Winter or they will not germinate at all. I suppose the non-technical explanation would be that the freezing cracks the shells of the seeds and kick-starts the embryo to allow germination when the temperature rises above freezing. It would be reasonable to assume that the seeds of plants growing in countries with fairly stable and warm climates are never subjected to freezing and that these would be the most likely ones that do not tolerate freezing.
My only resource for this knowledge is what I remembered of my Biology classes in my last year of school that equated to 1st year University level, and the instructions on a packet of seeds I bought many years ago to grow some exotic bonsai trees that said they needed to be put in the freezer for a couple of weeks before attempts were made to germinate them. Search "cold stratification of seeds" for more information.
From a personal viewpoint I have to question the validity of such an expensive repository of seeds. I understand the benefit of keeping seeds of crop plants that provide food in case there are dustbowl droughts and crops can be replanted after rain returns, but keeping seeds of hardwood rainforest trees? Humans are destroying swathes of rainforest to populate the areas with cash crops. This in turn will ruin the soil structure and it would take a very long time to try and return it to a suitable medium to try and replant those rainforests that were ripped out. In that respect I think it is as misguided as trying to reintroduce animals to particular continents a long time after they became extinct there. In the intervening time the habitats for them have changed so drastically that the animals reintroduced require constant "management" to allow them to thrive alongside other invasive species that occupied their slot.