Date Palm Tree Miracle: Scientists Raised Extinct Plant From The Dead
How scientists defied extinction by waking up a 2,000-year-old seed buried since the days of the Roman Empire.
There’s a story about a date palm tree doing the rounds on social media at the moment that sounds like some sort of sci-fi urban legend. But is it actually real? Read on to find out.
Sorting Real from Fantasy
These days, tons of posts arrive across social media. Some of them, unfortunately, are too hard to believe. While interesting, it’s a big let-down when searching produces nothing to verify them.
Other tales arrived that also seem unlikely and are clearly AI originated. After all, between anyone and Chatgpt, one can easily invent ridiculous claims and term them as fascinating facts.
A Real Story
The fascinating thing about the latest resurfacing of the date palm story is that it’s totally real. Not only did it really happen, but there are white papers and documentary-style coverage about it.
In fact, the fascination arrived because the date palm tree really existed. But, it was extinct. Back in the day, about the time Jesus of Nazareth wandering around the middle east, they were there. But they died out.
Notably, they weren’t just any old tree. According to Sarah Sallon et al on PMC, “Judean dates’ grown in plantations around Jericho and the Dead Sea were recognized by classical writers for their large size, sweet taste, extended storage, and medicinal properties.”
An Incredible Resurrecttion
The interesting bit comes because Dr. Sarah Sallon, a pediatric gastroenterologist who heads the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital, achieved global recognition for an amazing achievement.
As reported by The Times of Israel, Elaine Solowey and Dr. Sallon successfully sprouted “a 1,900-year-old date seed.” Apparently, some were found in the desert at the old fortress of Masada.
At the time of its cultivation, the historic sprout officially set the world record as the oldest ancient tree seed ever successfully brought back to life.
Since then, more success happened in the area of germinating disappearing plants. And these days, Elaine Solowey also has someone working with her to help keep up the work.
A Short Documentary
When the BBC carried a YouTube video about the amazing palm tree resurrection, plenty of people seemed blown away by the incredible project. Not only because an ancient seed was found, but because they were able to get ancient pollen to make female trees for successful propagation.
In the comments section, one viewer wrote, “As a horticulturist I have heard story’s like this about seeds from hundreds of years ago being germinated, but thousands of years, that’s just amazing, well done.”
Other Viewers React
In the responses to that, over 400 comments showed just how interesting the subject of extinct species being resurrected is. Here are some of them:
- They’ve cultivated wheat that was found in the pyramids in Egypt that was roughly 4000 years old. They took it back to France and it grew…what we now call Kamut.
- I also love the story of brewing ancient beers using old yeast. Make me worry less about my sourdough starter.
- These two amazing women should be recognized worldwide.
- Finally, people restoring something to the world instead of destroying it. Love these kind of projects.
What are your thoughts about the ancient palm trees being brought back to life after being extinct? Let us know in the comments below, and come back here often for all your interesting news and mysterious updates.
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