What Do You Get When You Mix Ancient Seeds, Water, Hormones, Fertilizer?
What Do You Get When You Mix Ancient Seeds, Water, Hormones, Fertilizer?
You get a variety of date palm tree that had been extinct for more than a century. Scientists in Israel hope that "Hannah" will flower and be pollinated by a male tree named "Methuselah."
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Mix 2,000-year-old seeds with water, hormones and organic fertilizer, and what do you get? A variety of date palm tree that had been extinct for more than a century. Scientists in Israel now hope that Hannah, a new female plant, will flower and be pollinated by a male tree named Methuselah. He was grown from another ancient seed in 2008. That pairing could produce new fruit once sought after during the Roman Empire. Talk about a first date with a lot of pressure.
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.