The most genetically diverse place in the world
The millennium seed bank
The Millennium Seed Bank stores seeds so that they will stay alive for tens of years and even hundreds of years. The seed bank is at Wakehurst Place which is a branch of Kew Gardens.
Collecting and storing seed
Seeds come to the Seed Bank from all over the world. The consignments are unpacked and checked. The seeds are first dried, then they have to be cleaned, identified and dried some more before being stored at a low temperature that is colder than a household deep freeze.
It is very important that the seeds are identified accurately. For this reason the seeds arrive with field notes and samples of the plant from which they were collected.
Monitoring the collection
From time to time the scientists take samples from the bank and germinate them to make sure that they are still alive.
Sometimes the stock of seeds from a particular species is used up, or the level of germination is too low. If this happens the seeds are allowed to germinate and grow into plants so that new seed can be collected.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 20 April 2008
