The always cool Genetic Archaeology blog has a nifty article on a team of researchers that have managed to get some 2000 year old dates to germinate and produce a tree. The dates were excavated from the Masada which as built 2044 years ago, and carbon dating of other seeds confirmed their age. Not quite Jurassic Park, but it could be beginning of a new attraction… The Biblical Garden.
After eight weeks, a small green shoot emerged from one seed, and by 26 months, Methuselah had grown to a height of nearly four feet. Except for a few white spots on its first leaves, the plant remains healthy.
