4,000 year old lentil seed sprouts plant from the past

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413791


Ancient seed sprouts plant from the past


A 4,000-year-old lentil seed found during an archeological excavation has germinated, exciting scientists as the event might lead to invaluable data for comparisons between the organic and genetically engineered plants of today. ‘It would be the first seed from very old times whose genes were never modified,’ say the scientists.

Project leader and Dumlupınar University archeology faculty Professor Nejat Bilgen said they found the seeds during an excavation undertaken last year in Kütahya province.

Bilgen said a layer from the container in which they found the seeds was determined to be from the middle bronze age. His team found many seeds, but most had been burnt. They had failed to make the others turn green before the recent success.

“A seed dug from underground and dating back approximately 4,000 years sprouted. The plant that came out of this seed is under examination and will be presented to the scientific community [so they can] make various analyses over it,” Bilgen said.

Nükhet Bingöl, an assistant professor from the same department, said she planted one of the seeds last year but that it dried up after germinating, adding that she sent another to Istanbul for fat analyses.

Bingöl said she planted the present seed three months ago before it successfully germinated. “Scientifically, we are still at the beginning,” said Bingöl, who explained that the age of the seed needs to be determined and compared to the lentils of today.

“Although [the seed] was found in an archeological excavation, we should prove it scientifically. We should look into whether those seeds came from outside [the container] or not,” she said.

Bingöl said the lentil is pretty weak – unlike its modern day versions – yet they hope it will be able to flower and produce seeds. If that happens, according to Bingöl, they would have extremely important data to compare with the organic and genetically engineered plants of today.

If the plant produces seeds, they would be genetically unmodified original seeds, she said. “Original seeds are always weaker than others. Maybe it would not offer much benefit to the country’s economy but we would be pioneering for other work in universities on collecting old seeds.”

Bingöl said there are domestic and foreign examples of centuries-old plants germinating, adding that Japan’s magnolia plant has different qualities than today’s magnolia plant in other parts of the world.

For more, see www.hurriyetdailynews.

Can you imagine the stress watching that baby grow? LOL

Years ago my brother purchased an old home in Ohio. While renovating he found a scrapbook in the wall. This book was over 100 years old and was a sample of pressed dried plants and their names etc. He took it to the nearby college that was happy to get it and analyze these old plants to see the differences, (like the above article)

I am sure that most changes have occurred in the last 100 years,( fertilizers, pesticides, hybrids, cloning) but to be able to study something from thousands of years ago, that is amazing!

The power of life...that little seed waiting all these years to grow.

It is amazing isn't it? Just think of all the weed seeds just laying underground sleeping and waiting for you to turn over the soil so they can pop up and drive you crazy. In my ornamental beds I try my best not to disturb the soil at all for that reason. Preen gets most of them but I still fight that wild awful grass that will take over if you don't stay on top of it. Mulch hides them pretty good and I put down a fresh layer each year. My darn chickens get in there though and scratch it all up and unearth everthing. They do eat the weeds though and that's helpful. If I could just train them to only eat the weeds and not the flowers I'd be all set. :)

You would make millions from that idea!