WEBVTT - Can All Plants Be Preserved in Seed Banks?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vog obam here. If you've never heard

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<v Speaker 1>of a seed bank, the basic idea is this, when

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<v Speaker 1>the apocalypse is over and the forests are nothing but

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<v Speaker 1>smoking ruins in the fields, barren of grain, fear not.

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<v Speaker 1>We can reboot the world thanks to our bank seeds

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<v Speaker 1>stored in bunker's strategically located from here to eternity. These

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<v Speaker 1>fall Bard International Seed Vault in Norway, for instance, currently

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<v Speaker 1>holds more than eight hundred and eighty thousand seeds and

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<v Speaker 1>has the capacity to hold up to two point five billion.

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<v Speaker 1>Seeds are pretty amazing forms of reproduction. All you need

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<v Speaker 1>to do is dry them out and freeze them solid,

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<v Speaker 1>and they can last for years. It's a comforting thought

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<v Speaker 1>and acep civilizations sleeve and the seemingly less and less

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<v Speaker 1>unlikely scenario that we self destruct. The u n's Global

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<v Speaker 1>Strategy for Plant Conservation plans to bank sev of all

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<v Speaker 1>plant species by but hold that arguably comforting thought a

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<v Speaker 1>sing to a study from researchers at the Royal Botanic

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<v Speaker 1>Gardens Queue, there's a significant catch. They discovered that a

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<v Speaker 1>whole host of plant seeds just can't be banked, including avocado, cacao,

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<v Speaker 1>and mango. Their findings, which were published in a November

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eighteen issue of the journal Nature Plants, detail how

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<v Speaker 1>a full thirty three percent of tree species alone are

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<v Speaker 1>on this list, including oak and chestnut trees. We're still

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<v Speaker 1>thirty six percent of our critically endangered species are also unbankable,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's not even counting of the regular old endangered

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<v Speaker 1>plants or of the vulnerable ones. So why can't these

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<v Speaker 1>seeds be banked? Apparently not all seeds like the drying

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<v Speaker 1>out process, and for this they are labeled recalcitrant seeds,

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<v Speaker 1>which seems a little unfair calling a seed stubborn just

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<v Speaker 1>because it can't tolerate dehydration as a bit rich coming

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<v Speaker 1>from species that can barely last two days without water. Luckily,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a way out of this jam, and it involves

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<v Speaker 1>liquid nitrogen, which is always fun. Yes, to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>we've got all our seeds safely tucked away in indefinite storage,

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<v Speaker 1>we have to resort to cryo preservation, just like Ted

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<v Speaker 1>Williams and all the other immortals being kept on ice.

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<v Speaker 1>All one has to do is dissect the seed pry

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<v Speaker 1>out its embryo and plunge it into smoking cold nitrogen.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of storing seeds at a conventional negative twenty degrees

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<v Speaker 1>celsius that's negative four degrees fahrenheit, going cry oh will

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<v Speaker 1>keep these finicky seeds in suspended animation at a subglacial

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<v Speaker 1>temperature of negative a hundred and ninety six degrees celsius

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<v Speaker 1>that's negative degrees fahrenheit. Some researchers advocate cryo preservation for

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<v Speaker 1>all seeds, even the cooperative ones, because they'll last longer.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, a full aut apocalypse isn't the only reason

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<v Speaker 1>for banking seeds. Climate change, habitat loss, and the growing

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<v Speaker 1>threat of plant pathogens are already threatening biodiversity, so the

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<v Speaker 1>time to preserve seeds is now, though taking steps to

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<v Speaker 1>protect habitats and slow climate change would certainly be good

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<v Speaker 1>as well. Today's episode was written by Machine Karen and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of

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<v Speaker 1>iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other super cool topics, visit our home planet,

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