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Sariel007 OP t1_iw7jngc wrote

>Scientists in Israel are creating a gene bank from the seeds of local wild crops, some that have survived for thousands of years since the birth of agriculture and that may help farmers deal with a harsher climate in the coming decades.

>In a eucalyptus grove nestled between an industrial zone and a new railroad under construction, botanist Alon Singer collected seeds from a number of plants recently spotted, including a variety of water mint, that will be frozen and stored at the Israel Plant Gene Bank at the Volcani Institute, the national agricultural R&D center.

>Singer is combing the country along with other scouts and foragers in search of varieties of wheat, barley and countless other wild crops so their genetic makeup can be saved and studied before they are lost to expanding deserts and urbanization as the climate warms.

>"The plants here are very unique. They are the ancestors of many of the cultivated plants used today," he said.

>Resilient characteristics can be harnessed to genetically modify farmed crops so they better withstand drought or disease.

>Tens of thousands of types of seeds are stored in the gene bank. It may be smaller than some collections elsewhere in the world but the gene pool here is unique, coming from an area that was part of the Fertile Crescent region known as the birthplace of crop cultivation.

>"This is where agriculture started about 10,000 years ago," said Einav Mayzlish-Gati, director of the gene bank. "Species that were domesticated here are still in the wild adapting along the years to the changes in the environment."

>The research has already been paying off. For example, the institute has engineered a variety of wheat with an ultra-short lifecycle. It may not be able to compete today, but it could be a saving grace in a hotter climate with reduced growing seasons.

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FuturologyBot t1_iw7nujd wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Sariel007:

>Scientists in Israel are creating a gene bank from the seeds of local wild crops, some that have survived for thousands of years since the birth of agriculture and that may help farmers deal with a harsher climate in the coming decades.

>In a eucalyptus grove nestled between an industrial zone and a new railroad under construction, botanist Alon Singer collected seeds from a number of plants recently spotted, including a variety of water mint, that will be frozen and stored at the Israel Plant Gene Bank at the Volcani Institute, the national agricultural R&D center.

>Singer is combing the country along with other scouts and foragers in search of varieties of wheat, barley and countless other wild crops so their genetic makeup can be saved and studied before they are lost to expanding deserts and urbanization as the climate warms.

>"The plants here are very unique. They are the ancestors of many of the cultivated plants used today," he said.

>Resilient characteristics can be harnessed to genetically modify farmed crops so they better withstand drought or disease.

>Tens of thousands of types of seeds are stored in the gene bank. It may be smaller than some collections elsewhere in the world but the gene pool here is unique, coming from an area that was part of the Fertile Crescent region known as the birthplace of crop cultivation.

>"This is where agriculture started about 10,000 years ago," said Einav Mayzlish-Gati, director of the gene bank. "Species that were domesticated here are still in the wild adapting along the years to the changes in the environment."

>The research has already been paying off. For example, the institute has engineered a variety of wheat with an ultra-short lifecycle. It may not be able to compete today, but it could be a saving grace in a hotter climate with reduced growing seasons.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yu5fmp/cop27_israel_harnessing_dna_of_bygone_wild_crops/iw7jngc/

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Alpha-Sierra-Charlie t1_iw7s8u6 wrote

I think it's an extremely good idea to preserve food sources that can survive without human intervention. Most of our crops are genetically modified to the point that they require massive logistical support to grow. The plants in this project just need good soil and weather.

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-Ch4s3- t1_iw7zhgj wrote

Replying to Sariel007 (#518,964)

> They are the ancestors of many of the cultivated plants used today

They're really descendants of the ancestors of modern crops, wild cousins if you will.

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44r0n_10 t1_iw83f7r wrote

So cool. I bet that it will be useful in the future!

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jaceapoc t1_iw85aje wrote

Ok but we’re still fucked lmao

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ironicf8 t1_iw862zt wrote

I'm a little confused. Wasn't the point of cultivating them to make them grow more food faster? Then wouldn't modern plants be better at surviving?

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menemenetekelufarsin t1_iw88fvx wrote

Replying to ironicf8 (#520,241)

Specific adaptations were cultivated for specific changes. But really in nature, what keeps things alive (evolutionary speaking) is variety. Example: if you have corn seed engineered for highest yields at ClimateX (let's say temperate) and SoilconditionsY, etc. and those change, then the yields may be drastically lower, or the seed may not yield at all. So you need variety to ensure survival.

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Rrraou t1_iw8afzi wrote

Makes perfect sense. Plants evolve to deal with their conditions. Here there's a gardening trend of planting a part of your garden and just not taking care of it, then harvesting the seeds of whatever managed to grow unsupervised, on the premise that those are the ones most robust in those conditions. Repeat until you have indestructible crops.

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menemenetekelufarsin t1_iw8ayl9 wrote

Replying to ironicf8 (#520,475)

My understanding is that they are "hunting for variety" in seeds before they disappear. There may be additional advantages for having older seeds too. This is pretty standard practice, and the raison d'etre of seed banks. But I'm not an expert at all. Just general knowledge stuff for me

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WAAAAlkinghere t1_iw8ekgj wrote

It’s still extremely important that farmers don’t use monocultures so these important wild and rural genetics don’t go extinct.

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CelestineCrystal t1_iw8gjhe wrote

as long as most of it is going to feed enslaved/farmed animals, it’s not a very good plan

−7

downloweast t1_iw8gna9 wrote

When they built that seed bank that gets seeds from all over the world I thought, “so our government’s are actively planning for the end of the world, cool.”

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solinaceae t1_iw8jo3o wrote

Replying to ironicf8 (#520,241)

Imagine the conditions an ancient plant needed to survive in, pre pesticides, pre modern irrigation, pre greenhouse, etc. They had to be a lot more robust in unpredictable conditions. Our current climate is making conditions less predictable again, but our crops were bred for predictability. So we need to help our crops adapt.

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LearnerChap t1_iw8keth wrote

amazing Israel has capability after hydro invention many yet to come. Kudos to holy land Israel

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Own-Cockroach7773 t1_iw8l6su wrote

Hmm. There's bound to be a catch here. Or this is gonna be another technology that won't be shared.

One of the two.

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AndorianKush t1_iw8oiiu wrote

Our modern crops have pretty confined gene pools at this time, and have been selectively bred to perform in a specific way under specific conditions. Selective breeding narrows the scope of the gene pool, and inbreeding eventually leads to decreased vigor. Inbreeding certainly leads to plants that perform well in only certain conditions. Out-crossing is essential to maintaining hybrid vigor, and maximum yields, and steering plants in the direction that they need to go in certain climate conditions. This is an effort to preserve a wide gene pool, namely a gene pool that has been adapting on its own instead of being selectively bred to perform under todays conditions, so that we may be able to out-cross current genetics to plants that may be better suited for a different climate condition that existed in the past and may be a new condition for us in the future.

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spicyIBS t1_iw8zc2h wrote

This is how you end up with Indominus Potato. Ooh, ah, that’s how it always starts. But then later there’s running and screaming.

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jaceapoc t1_iw96jhg wrote

Replying to Shplank (#521,182)

Oh but I'm not saying the opposite of that. I'm saying life quality will be a lot less good for a lot of people, and the ones at the bottom will be the ones getting completely fucked. Doesn't matter if we invent some shit like this, it doesn't solve the big picture

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The_RealKeyserSoze t1_iw9iao1 wrote

And then when it is used to improve the crops people will freak out because they think GMO is bad.

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beebo_bebop t1_iw9qjkf wrote

Replying to -Ch4s3- (#522,425)

difficult//tedious but not impossible. more recent ferals should be pretty easy to distinguish through population structure analysis so long as someone takes the time to genotype them and run the statistics.

figuring out that an accession was influenced by humans then escaped cultivation to continue as a feral for 8k years is more challenging but still possible, especially with wheat since we have genomic data from archaeological finds

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oofend t1_iwav4wl wrote

If you are waiting for oil executives and politicians to admit the changing environment you have not adapted to survive.

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OliverSparrow t1_iwbbrxw wrote

Which plant breeders looking at drought tolerance have been doing for decades at CIMMYT, ICRISAT - International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics - and others.

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slt66 t1_iwbd5lr wrote

But Enviros will call these GMOs and say Israel is trying to poison Palestinians.

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Spiced_lettuce t1_iwd3e1i wrote

This is being done all over the world. The value which crop wild relatives and local crop landraces hold INVALUABLE genetic variation which can be introduced into the crops commercially grown. Especially for disease and environment stress resistances

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