'Doomsday' seed bank to be built.

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What a good idea this is. Not only is a Nuclear holocaust possible, but health disasters are looming at the horizon.

In case of unexpected consequences of 'genetically engineered' crops, it will be good to have the seeds for a new beginning for survivors.

Not only is Norway the best country to live in, it also has bright ideas.
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'Doomsday' seed bank to be built.

Norway is planning to build a "doomsday vault" inside a mountain on an Arctic island to hold a seed bank of all known varieties of the world's crops.

The Norwegian government will hollow out a cave on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen to hold the seed bank.

It will be designed to withstand global catastrophes like nuclear war or natural disasters that would destroy the planet's sources of food.

Seed collection is being organised by the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4605398.stm

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Norways idea, eh?

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/0117/kew.html

Whoever thought of it first, it is a bloody good thing. I only hope that if the worst comes to the worst, someone will be around to dig all of these seeds out of their respective hiding places and plant them somewhere where they can grow.

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Even if we had the seeds, what good would it do if the earth itself were contaminated for centuries?

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Since 1998 we've got the "The Federal Information System of Genetic Resources (BIG)", which integrates relevant data on genetic resources
for cultivated and wild flora in Germany.
Some 100,000 seeds are collected at four places (plus some more specific ones, like the one for firs etc, with some thousand seeds of various species, which is close to us).

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

Even if we had the seeds, what good would it do if the earth itself were contaminated for centuries?

Good point, Phoenix.

The first plant that normally appears in a disaster area (volcanic ash, etc) is nearly always the fern, so we'd better find some way of making it edible and be ready with a few recipes for when the time comes.

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Contaminated or not, the greater the variety, the greater chance for some of them to survive.

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roger wrote:

Contaminated or not, the greater the variety, the greater chance for some of them to survive.

That's what the doctor said about my recent intimate sample I had to provide.

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There are some 1,400 seed banks globally with at least 35 of them dedicated to the long term preservation of the genetic lines of hundreds of thousands of plants.

It's about time Norway got with the program. Wink

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If all seed banks are like this one, they will not last long in a nuclear war. The one in Norway will.
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To try to head off the loss of such precious resources, Britain is operating what is projected to become the world's biggest seed bank devoted to wild plants. The Millennium Seed Bank is on the grounds of a botanical garden bear Sussex village about 35 miles south of London.

http://www.uneco.org/worldseedbank.html

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Why stops with crops? If we do have some ghastly holocaust, we'll need more than crop seeds.

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detano inipo wrote:

If all seed banks are like this one, they will not last long in a nuclear war. The one in Norway will.
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To try to head off the loss of such precious resources, Britain is operating what is projected to become the world's biggest seed bank devoted to wild plants. The Millennium Seed Bank is on the grounds of a botanical garden bear Sussex village about 35 miles south of London.

http://www.uneco.org/worldseedbank.html

....."A new $18 million, barrel-vaulted building that is open to visitors contains a "seed wall," an exhibit of seeds along with detailed information about their preservation. But the UNDERGROUND COLD STORAGE VAULTS are open only to the 25 scientists working there".......

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The danger is not only from nuclear war. As we have fewer varieties, and hybrids at that, their is a much greater chance of disease or pest that can wipe out an entire species.

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I vaguely remember a twlight zone like this

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We need to preserve seeds that are natural. Genetically engineered seeds are contaminating the ordinary crops.

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'Doomsday' seed bank to be built.

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