Editing Seed bank (section)

==Longevity==
{{Main|Oldest viable seed}}
Seeds may be viable for hundreds and even thousands of years. The oldest [[carbon-14]]-dated seed that has grown into a viable plant was a [[Judean date palm]] seed about 2,000 years old, recovered from excavations at the palace of [[Herod the Great]] in [[Israel]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051125013820/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1122_051122_old_seed.html National Geographic]</ref>

In February 2012, Russian scientists announced they had regenerated a narrow leaf campion (''[[Silene stenophylla]]'') from a 32,000-year-old seed. The seed was found in a burrow {{convert|124|ft}} under Siberian [[permafrost]] along with 800,000 other seeds. Seed tissue was grown in [[test tubes]] until it could be transplanted to soil. This exemplifies the long-term viability of [[DNA]] under proper conditions.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/32-000-year-old-plant-reborn-from-ancient-fruit-found-in-siberian-ice.html | work=Bloomberg | first=Sarah | last=Frier | title=32,000-Year-Old Plant Reborn From Ancient Fruit Found in Siberian Ice | date=2012-02-20}}</ref>