These Austrian Scientists Are Growing Ancient Plant From 32,000-Year-Old Seeds They Found Deep In The Siberian Permafrost

Oh, how much we still don’t know about this planet we call home (no rhyme intended.) So many mysteries left to uncover, so many puzzles left to crack! In 2012, one such peculiar puzzle fell straight into the hands of six Russian scientists and left them quite intrigued, to say the least.

In 2012, S. Yashina, S. Gubin, S. Maksimovich, A. Yashina, E. Gakhova, and D. Gilichinsky found some 32,000-year-old seeds and managed to grow a viable plant from them. These seeds were found covered in ice and buried 125 feet underground, deep in the Siberian permafrost. At the time of this fascinating discovery, this group of scientists was investigating the burrows of ancient squirrels! The plant that had grown from these seeds was, in fact, a Silene stenophylla, a flower that looks strikingly similar to its modern doppelgänger that still grows in Siberia.

Image credits: Lisi Niesner

To this day, no one really knows how these seeds managed to survive for that long. Recently, some scientists in Austria decided to start tackling this mystery by investigating the DNA of these ancient plants.

Image credits: Lisi Niesner

This investigation is currently taking place at Vienna’s University Of Natural Resources And Life Sciences. The main goal of this exploration is to find out whether there are changes in plant genes that can adapt to very dry, hot, or cold conditions. Such findings could be really useful when dealing with climate change and looking for ways to help other plants survive.

Image credits: Yashina et al.

Moreover, as the Russian permafrost is now thawing, researchers will also be able to investigate the environment further to see what factors might have helped the seeds stay viable.

Image credits: Lisi Niesner

“I think mankind needs to be thankful for every piece of knowledge that we are able to create to protect our croplands,” says Professor Margit Laimer, a plant biotechnologist at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna.