The Russian discovery of a cache of ancient seeds several years ago was nothing much to be excited about at the time. These seeds, encased more than 120 feet below the earth’s surface, were found in an area known for fossil remains. What is astounding, however, is that these particular seeds were preserved well enough for scientists to germinate them and grow them into healthy plants. After more than 32,000 years, flora from an unknown period of history was restored to life.
Scientists are understandably excited about their accomplishment. The previous record-holder for this type of procedure was a 2000-year-old date palm. That beats out the previous record by several millennia. Furthermore, the newly created plants managed to flower and produce their own seeds, creating a second generation and the assurance that this ancient plant will continue to exist in the modern world.
Bringing these plants back to life is a remarkable opportunity to learn a great deal about the past first-hand. If more seeds can be found in similar underground environments, there’s no telling what sorts of plants may emerge from the darkness. If the same technologies can be applied to other forms of living matter in the future, then there’s virtually no limit to what we may be able to recreate.
The knowledge and ability to perform such feats of science is growing rapidly and perhaps may extend to animal remains some day. Maybe even the fossils of ancient human predecessors can eventually be revived. The amount of information that could be gained by making life anew is endless. We could finally begin to understand ourselves as a species by looking at where we came from, both in terms of the life that existed then and the forms of our ancestors.
Currently, scientists are trying to replicate the process with the seeds and assure that it can be done again and again. Hopefully, they will be successful and we can start down a new road towards knowledge and understanding of our world.