Ancient Seeds and the Master Engineer
During some archaeology work in Israel, some seeds were discovered dated at about 2,000 years old. Date is the operative word with two meanings because they were date palm tree seeds. Using controlled conditions, some of those seeds were coaxed into growing.
An engineer will develop something for a purpose, and more advanced techniques are included to deal with adverse contingencies. The Master Engineer loads a tremendous amount of genetic information into seeds, and they can die and then come back. More than that, the organisms that come from seeds are also designed to reproduce. Dates are popular for their taste and health benefits, and even medicinal qualities; clearly they are one of God's provisions for humanity.
The extinct Judean variety of Phoenix dactylifera seeds grew, their genome was sequenced and agricultural processes from way back when were discerned. The clever folks used what is now called artificial selection. Researchers now have both male and female trees, and hope to have some pollination happening and bring back the original date palm trees. Of course, homage to Papa Darwin was used. It was nothing but a distraction and was completely irrelevant to the actual science involved.
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| Phoenix dactylifera image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Wilfredo R Rodriguez (CC0 1.0 PD) |
The extinct Judean variety of Phoenix dactylifera seeds grew, their genome was sequenced and agricultural processes from way back when were discerned. The clever folks used what is now called artificial selection. Researchers now have both male and female trees, and hope to have some pollination happening and bring back the original date palm trees. Of course, homage to Papa Darwin was used. It was nothing but a distraction and was completely irrelevant to the actual science involved.
Trees of a now-extinct date palm celebrated for its fruit have sprouted from 2,000-year-old seeds recovered from Israel.
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Date seeds, growing in clusters from certain varieties of palm trees, have long been relished for their taste and medicinal properties. Date palms are familiar sights to travelers in deserts of Israel and southern California. One particular variety of date palm named Phoenix dactylifera, “described in antiquity for the quality, size, and medicinal properties of its fruit,” had been lost for centuries, say Sallon et al., publishing in Science Advances.You can read the entire article (bring a date along if you like) by clicking on "Seeds from Time of Christ Sprout, Grow Trees in Israel". The short video below from 2016 has some interesting information from before further developments occurred.