Jurassic Park-style resurrection as ancient plant last seen 32,000 year ago flowers again
In a discovery that may herald the Jurassic Park-style resurrection of mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, Russian scientists have grown a plant from the frozen remains of a 32,000-year-old Arctic flower.
The plant is a narrow-leafed campion grown in petri dishes from organic materials pulled from the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia. The Russian-grown campions are extremely similar to their modern-day descendants, although 32,000 years of evolution have given contemporary campions wider, less splayed-out petals.
A long-dead Arctic ground squirrel is credited with unwittingly creating the ancient seed bank. (Photo: Svetlana Yashina via The New York Times)
(Originally from National Post, Reblogged from National Post)
