Scientists Grew A Plant From A 32,000-Year-Old Seed And It's All Thanks To Squirrels

Oh, how much we still don’t know about this planet we call home (no rhyme intended.) So many mysteries left to uncover, so many puzzles left to crack! In 2012, one such peculiar puzzle fell straight into the hands of six Russian scientists and left them quite intrigued, to say the least.

In 2012, S. Yashina, S. Gubin, S. Maksimovich, A. Yashina, E. Gakhova, and D. Gilichinsky found some 32,000-year-old seeds and managed to grow a viable plant from them. These seeds were found covered in ice and buried 125 feet underground, deep in the Siberian permafrost. At the time of this fascinating discovery, this group of scientists was investigating the burrows of ancient squirrels! The plant that had grown from these seeds was, in fact, a Silene stenophylla, a flower that looks strikingly similar to its modern doppelgänger that still grows in Siberia.