meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
CrowdScience

Are seeds alive?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8985 Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Seeds are crucial to human existence – we eat them, we grow them and then we eat what they become. But what is a seed and how come it can sit there doing nothing for ages and then suddenly, when the conditions are right, burst into a plant?

That’s what CrowdScience listener Anke has been wondering. She runs an aquaponic salad farm near Stockholm in Sweden and she germinates thousands of seeds every week. With a bit of moisture and light, seeds that have been dormant for months can become leafy greens in just a few weeks. So are seeds alive, are they on some kind of life support, or is something else going on?

Presenter Caroline Steel sets off to Sweden to meet Anke, before heading for the Nordgen seed bank near Malmö. There she discovers how seeds being stored for future generations are tested for viability, and wonders what’s going on inside a seed that allows it to remain asleep before suddenly coming to life. How does a seed decide that the time is right?

We hear about one of the world’s longest running science experiments - a real-life treasure hunt that takes place every twenty years in Michigan, USA. Plant biologists tramp through the snow looking for bottles of seeds that were buried nearly a century and a half ago. Once found they try to germinate them. What superpowers does a seed need to be able to last that long?

Caroline also meets the woman who tried to grow date seeds that had been discarded at the palace of Herod the Great 2000 years ago, and ended up with previously extinct trees that produce delicious fruit. Surely a seed can’t have been alive for that long. Or can it?

Contributors:

Anke Johanna van Lenteren, Johannas Stadsodlingar, Sweden Johan Axelsson, Nordic Genetic Resource Center, Sweden Prof George Bassel, University of Warwick, UK Dr Grace Fleming, Michigan State University, USA Dr Sarah Sallon, Hadassah Medical Center, Israel

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Ben Motley Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris

(Photo: Hands holding spinach seeds. Credit: Vince Streano / Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of

0:07.0

Happiness Podcast.

0:08.0

For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want

0:14.4

to share that science with you.

0:16.1

And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.

0:19.4

I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that

0:25.4

calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:30.4

The Global Story, with Smart Takes and Fresh Perspective, on One Big News Story, every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service.

0:42.0

Search for The Global Story. to Friday from the BBC World Service.

0:43.0

Search for The Global Story,

0:45.1

wherever you get your BBC podcasts,

0:47.3

to find out more. What are you going for?

0:53.0

26.

0:55.0

You're listening to crowd science from the BBC World Service.

0:59.0

Would it be worth triangulating again just to kind of get a sense of...

1:02.0

Yeah, probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

1:03.8

I'm Caroline Steele and this is the sound of plant biologists

1:07.7

tramping through snow under the cover of darkness.

1:11.6

They're following an ancient treasure map.

1:14.0

We've got to be.

1:16.0

Armed with dim torches and spades, they're looking for a bottle that was buried in 1879,

1:22.0

in Michigan, USA.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -428 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.