Fruit seeds stored away by squirrels more than 30,000 years ago and
found in Siberian permafrost have been regenerated into full flowering
plants by scientists in Russia, a new study has revealed.
The seeds of the herbaceous Silene stenophylla are far and
away the oldest plant tissue to have been brought back to life,
according to lead cryologists Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of
the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The latest findings could be a landmark in research of ancient
biological material and the race to potentially revive other species,
including some that are extinct.
