Life From Old Seeds

Researcher Coaxes New Sprouts From Centuries-Old Lotus Seeds

By Lee Dye Special to ABCNEWS.com

March 14 — Jane Shen-Miller's garden consists of two plants that, for the moment, seem to be doing pretty well.

But she watches over them day and night, like a mother nursing a sick child, because those plants could hold key secrets about longevity and good health, not only for other plants but quite possibly for humans as well.

You see, these aren't just ordinary plants.

Secret to Long-Term Storage?

They were raised from seeds of the fabled lotus plant, and remarkably, they remained viable after spending nearly 500 years in a dry lakebed in China, subject to wind and sand storms, occasional flooding, and radiation. Shen-Miller, a plant biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, grew the plants from ancient seeds she collected from the lakebed in China, where she was born and raised.

They are the first mature plants ever raised from seeds known to be so old.

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