Sapling Thrives From 2,000-Year-Old Seed

FLORA AND FAUNA

Date trees

Jerusalem (UPI) Nov 23, 2005
Israeli scientists say a sapling germinated earlier this year from a 2,000-year-old date palm seed is thriving.

"It's 80 centimeters (three feet) high with nine leaves, and it looks great," Sarah Sallon, director of the Hadassah Medical Organization's Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, told National Geographic News.

Sallon's program is dedicated to the study of complementary and alternative medicines. The center is also interested in conserving the heritage of Middle Eastern plants that have been used medicinally for thousands of years.

Sallon says she wants to see if the ancient tree -- nicknamed Methuselah -- produces any unique medicinal properties no longer found in modern date palm varieties.

"Dates were famous in antiquity for medicinal value," she told NGN, noting they were used for various diseases.

She and her colleagues are currently comparing the structure of the sapling to modern date palms and examining DNA from one of the sapling's leaves.

The team plans to publish their results early next year.

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FLORA AND FAUNA

New Measures Urged To Protect Dolphins And Other Friends In The Sea

Nairobi (AFP) Nov 23, 2005
The United Nations called Wednesday for stricter measures to protect dolphins and other marine mammals environmentalists see as adored by humans, since more than two-thirds of them face growing threats to their survival.

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