In an attempt to counteract threats of certain foods becoming extinct, scientists in Norway are attempting to collect and store every species of seed in the world. Seeds in the Global Seed Vault range from Nigerian peas to Mexican corn, and they reside in a structure impervious to bombs and earthquakes (these scientists aren't kidding around). Temperature is regulated electronically, and no one person has all of the keys to the vault. And why the Arctic? One, it's not crowded, so the seeds won't be messed with. And two, it makes it a lot easier to keep the seeds at the required minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Until now, there has been no single storage system for the world's seeds. The idea came post 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, when scientists realized that the our diverse foods would most likely continue to be threatened and ultimately wiped out by disasters. These seeds are precious in part because they can scientists to identify strains of disease and fungi so that vulnerable food can be made resistant to these potential killers.
Scientists are also exploring ways to keep foods like bananas and coconuts, which can't be stored as seeds. Eventually, the goal is to have a database that farmers and plant breeders can consult to quickly and easily find seeds have certain characteristics so that they can be modified.
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