100% germination rate from 1000 year old seed? Amazing! My seed collections don't stay that viable.
The trick is to use phytohormones to prime the seed [1]. It’s a new technique so there aren’t any commercial products available AFAIK but we should see them hit the market in the next decade.
Any prediction markets up on it having adverse side effects, like cancer, being found within 5 years
Still has to be scientifically proven to have medical applications
Does it? It's still interesting that they may have grown an ancient tree that has medicinal properties even if those medicinal properties aren't novel or useful.
Now resurrect silphium.
Arguably, it never went extinct. Theres a Turkish guy, Dr. Miski, who thinks he rediscovered an extant patch of it that may have been grown in an old anatolian village. DOI 10.3390/plants10010102
Why is this getting downvoted?
Unfortunately, Silphium will likely never be resurrected. Even the Romans did not manage to grow it. Wiki:
Another theory is that when Roman provincial governors took over power from Greek colonists, they over-farmed silphium and rendered the soil unable to yield the type that was said to be of such medicinal value. Theophrastus wrote in Enquiry into Plants that the type of Ferula specifically referred to as "silphium" was odd in that it could not be cultivated.[16] He reports inconsistencies in the information he received about this, however.[17] This could suggest the plant is similarly sensitive to soil chemistry as huckleberries which, when grown from seed, are devoid of fruit.[2]
Similar to the soil theory, another theory holds that the plant was a hybrid, which often results in very desired traits in the first generation, but second-generation can yield very unpredictable outcomes. This could have resulted in plants without fruits, when planted from seeds, instead of asexually reproducing through their roots.[2]
PS: The poster (not me) seemed to have expected this. Throway...
The Romans may have had difficulty cultivating it but based on recent findings, local peasants in the region were capable of doing so. See my other comment above or check out DOI 10.3390/plants10010102 -- its possible it never went extinct at all.
that's actually what I went to the article to check on, if it was silphium. alas, it was not - had me excited for a moment.
but, resurrecting plants that are extinct is still very exciting.
I hope they can clone it or find more seeds.
Fruit trees can take a very long time to mature and grow flowers/fruit. Hopefully it can pollinate with itself, and isn’t a kind that has sexes.
Cloning is likely. Finding more seeds unlikely. The plant hasn't flowered or grown fruit yet so the story insult over yet...