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.
1) It's pretty awesome to let a 32.000 year old see grow no matter which one it is
2) It's pretty awesome to be able to compare genes of the modern version with an 32.000 year old version
@bev these certainly aren’t the first ancient seeds to be unearthed. But 32k years is remarkable - even in permafrost organic matter doesn’t remain intact like that.