Jonathan Drori: Why we're storing billions of seeds

[starsfromthegutter]

Not to mention the chaos genetic modification may bring . This is an excellent idea. The world according to Monsanto is a good documentary checks it out guys.

[starsfromthegutter]

This is an especially good idea if people take into account companies like Monsanto creating “terminator” seeds which cannot produce further generations. People need to stand up globally and state that life cannot be patented. It is a dangerous legal premise. It provides incentive for the destruction of original seeds so private companies can fill a niche mother earth used to.

[blythebrooks]

This video made me so happy...and relieved...it was a great idea...these TED talks really are amazing...i love hearing all of the wonderful ideas and intelligent debate.

[hughjoey]

i saw a video once about a similar seed bank that was on a island somewhere. I think it was near iceland. anyone know what im talking about?

[MilesB1975]

He mentions it in the video, Svalbard near Norway.

[PsilocybinNinja]

Please tell me they saved some Hemp and Cannabis plants! :)

[blythebrooks]

was thinking the same exact thing!

[Isaac707]

We shouldn't even have to do this. Is the sad thing.

[dmix09]

store my seed!!

[88simran]

thank you!!!!

[bajorjor1]

Cool, I hope they can store each specie of the wolrd seeds

[EchoInfinity]

Psst...

*Whisper*

I think... He's storing one on his nose... >_>

[jondrori]

You cheeky so-and-so. But you didn't half make me laugh! Maybe everyone should have a personal built-in seed-bank. :-)

[EchoInfinity]

Females already do ;D

[armalabama]

hehhehe

[mrgtr2]

Just whatever you do, don't store gorse seeds! If there's a nuclear holocaust etc, that's the last plant species we want to take off!

[egdapo]

and why should we panic when most people dont know what kind of harm they may cause? tell us first

[soupisgoodfood42]

Why go into extensive detail when a Google search is so easy and the Wikipedia page contains more info about gorse than you could hope to explain in a tiny YouTube comment?

[egdapo]

cos lukn for all that information myself is inefficient use of my time, why shld i spend 2-3mins lukn 2 undastand something that some1 already knows/undastands and can synthesize into simple a 2-3line sentence 4 me? Besides, my earlier comment had two purposes, 1. to make conversation and 2. to help me undastand where mrgtr2 is coming from i.e. his answer reveals more abt hw he thinks...

[contemporarybeatnik]

that is not an inefficient use for your time, unless you're content to be an ignorant cretin.

hmmm, why think for yourself when someone else can do it for you?

your answer reveals more about how you think (or rather... don't think).

[egdapo]

wow, uve clearly got some issues dude, in wat part of my reply did i say i didnt want to think 4 myself?

Ur just one of those sad sad people always trying to get a rise out of others :(

[egdapo]

wow, ur 30 years old, on youtube, no discernible career path (all taken from your youtube page btw) and u call me an ignorant cretin?

I wish u all the best life has to offer dude. Lets just leave it at that

[contemporarybeatnik]

i wasn't aware there was an age limit or particular demographic that restricts me from youtube/TEDtalks.

i actually own a small business and also realize that my self worth is not tied to my net worth.

and you are an ignorant cretin if you're going to wait for someone to tell you something rather than do a little of your own homework. "Please think for me, I don't have the time."

please, why don't you go back to your hip-hop fantasy world (judging from your youtube page btw)

assclown...

[farnium]

What an honourable and ambitious project. I hope it continues to get the funding; billions of years evolution can be wiped clean by a couple of decades of human activity. Its' heart-breaking.

[Henrin]

this is amazing. im glad people think fo these things. favorited ^_^

oh and to the dumb kids: please go elsewhere to be dumb. thx.

[fancybollocks]

I certainly like the idea of preserving my seed, any takers?!

[AmerginMacEccit]

"they spew" that is

[AmerginMacEccit]

They store billions of seeds so that kooks and conspiracy theorists of the world can use it as another argument in any idiotic rants the spew. "They're trying to poison us all and save the good seeds for themselves, they're preparing for 2012, Jesus is coming soon!!!"...

[jakylili]

lol 2012/jesus/poisoning people has no connection

[AmerginMacEccit]

It does in psyche of a conspiracy theorist :) You would be surprised how many superficial connections they can make up out of random events and topics. You should listen to their rants from time to time, it's sad and funny at the same time. Just wanted to make a joke about it, people didn't like it judging from thumbs down.

[Exestenz]

SEED OF JESUS

[markus310773]

This project is ingenious. I am shocked by some of the rude comments about this.

Projects like this make the world a better place (not trying to be sentimental). It's definitely more important than 100 new Porsches or a 100 yard yacht...

[phlipineck]

Boring?!!!...you idiot. If you want exciting go and play with your x box, if you want education stay here - but keep the dumb comments to yourself

[RantKid]

ZZZZZ SO BORING

why are TED talks becoming more and more boring and bullshit? TED used to be so good to me!

[gnamp]

as if that beak isn't ugly enough. Man, I'd go down town and get a rat to gnaw that thing off.

[magiccatalyst]

booooring video/ presentation. Not saying this isn't important of course this is, just doesn't stir my curiosity.

[goodsirknight]

he's no christian bale

[tukkek]

yeah man

unfortunately this guy isn't as charismatic as other that do TED talks. But nonetheless - as you kinda said - this is much more important and honorable work than most scientific stuff.

[javierenchina]

could we also start creating a database of the DNA sequences of these plants...? and then, of organisms of all species on earth..?

[Nyxion95]

An "ark" for seeds. Fantastic idea.

[sealhunta]

better than the original arc lol

[massivereader]

The russians started the first one back in the late 1800's. It's in Leningrad I think.

[Thanodendron]

Great to see the Millennium Seed Bank Project get onto TEDS.

:-)

[btwbrand]

Good vid, not very exciting but good to see some folks are taking a proactive stance in planning for the future. Currently people do not care what lives and what dies. "ohh it's just a weed, Ohh it's just one tree, I like this kind of corn Vs all these others," Thre was a previous TeD vidieo where a shashed and Burned forest was regrown. The people who were showcased in that Talk learned first hand how wrong they are. Untill we all think like this, We need seed banks.

[NoExcape]

by helping plants, your hurting the plants, your not allowing them to evolve

[SenariXarn]

Evolution takes much longer than our lives do, so preserving plants that are useful as resources to our civilizations, as well as those that are dying off due to our increasing use of natural resources (including land), is a good thing to do.

[Zetimenvec]

eh, you don't have much proof of that statement. It may seem nice to want to help out species that are dying out, but we seem extremely keen on killing off the species we deem bad and unnecessary, things like weeds and what have you. They're extremely successful plants, and we do all we can to kill them. To me we're just being ignorant of the path that evolution wants to take, and are trying to completely rewrite nature.

[SenariXarn]

I doubt evolution accounts for industry and inorganic materials being used for anything but landscape.

To destroy my previous statement, and shed light on the subject, here is a phenomenal philosophy:

No one cares what you think.

This applies to myself, as my statement was an opinion. We are all entitled to them, but the title means nothing. Unless we can back up our opinions with corroborating evidence, it means nothing.

So, everyone: Do research on this to make informed statements.

[Zetimenvec]

humorously enough, I dont care that possibly no one cares what I think. Im going to state my mind anyway for the simple reasoning that it either might be important to one person, which would make it worthwhile, or that what I'm saying strikes a chord with someone, and in an attempt to show me wrong someone does go out and corroborate evidence to figure out whether or not what I say is true. I don't really care, all I care about is being as accurate as possible

[softy1000]

We aren't just killing the plants we don't like, though. Through invasive species, we're also killing the plants that are the best for the ecology of the region (the native species), and saving the ones that are in danger might give us a chance to save what will be lost. And invasive species aren't evolving naturally...they are unnatural, caused by humans. But it's good to be prepared, even if saving seeds may seem unnecessary.

[enyawix]

We help low class people is that not the same thing?

[jenikins]

plonts

[jenikins]

ought'nt

[blueskies66]

I couldn't be happier with the comments I'm reading. Damn Damn Happy. Good to see people knowing hemp for the amazing plant it is. Ü Hemp is the way!!

We should have listened to Woody Harrelson all those years ago when he stuck his neck out about hemp instead of ridiculing him or ignoring him.

[sunrisewalker]

I'm not opposed to hemp and am in fact quite positive about some of its uses, but I think people tend to obsess about it- no doubt because of its cousin's alternate use.

How about giving some love to the Black Locust Tree which is an amazingly fast growing tree that fixes nitrogen? How about bamboo which can do virtually everything hemp camp and doesn't require replanting?

Just because a plant that gets you high has other uses, does not make it the holy grail of plants.

[blueskies66]

Hate to knock any thing from nature..I love it all but black locust cannot be made into 25,000 products including food. Hemp takes litterally nothing from the soil and requires no pesticide so planting is a much smaller issue than any ag. we do today. Nutritionally it's amazing stuff. Highest polyunsaturated fat there is....bamboo can be eaten but you don't get much but a little protein.

[blueskies66]

THC is maybe 1 percent, NO ONE is smoking hemp. If you wish to grow it you would never let it go to seed it would be ruined, and don't disregard pot for it's abilities to heal and help people. It is an herb. I'd rather have something from the earth than a psuedo sci-pill anyday. check out run from the cure on YT. Pots not the scary monster they've made it out to be.

[nilbud]

A few years ago someone smoked a reefer at a party I was attending. I inhaled some secondary smoke and now I am a criminal with unsavoury habits. Far left liberals claim there is no link, well they should try telling that to the trail of victims I've left over the years.

[willowtreephoto]

"literally nothing" perhaps you would recant this?

[blueskies66]

wow, all the great things about hemp and this one little thing caught you. It does grow well in non fertilized soil and you do not need to fertilize before your secondary crop...so yeah.

[willowtreephoto]

I don't understand how someone could be so enthusiastic about a textile crop. Your overstatement caught my eye because it was an absolute.

Absolutes are clear signs of deception, ignorance, or zeal.

[blueskies66]

I'd call it zeal. Hemp is pretty incredible. In more ways than textile uses.

[crankthetoto]

"Absolutes are clear signs..."

isnt that an absolute

[sunrisewalker]

I'm surprised and impressed. I normally don't get answers this well argued on this subject. Thank you.

[blueskies66]

Sitting here on pins and needles till I can legally grow hemp. Damn Canadians flaunting their fields of hemp on YouTube.....just kidding guys...I'm a very close neighbor to the nuks...I really do love them. ♥

[sunrisewalker]

Crankthetoto- I would say that absolutes being clear signs is not an absolute, since a sign is an indicator and not a confirmation. A clear sign is a strong suggestion, but not yet an absolute. It is in fact a careful hedge against absolutism.

Blueskies66- It is still very difficult to grow hemp up here, as the police are not very found of it and mainstream society does not support it very much. Canada is a still a baby boomer country by and large.

[EZchairchillen]

You can tell he just bought that shirt. DUDE IRON THAT SHIT!!

[747dog]

...Noticed that myself... You made me laugh, thanks, He should have bought a COMB also... Maybe he had a hangover !!!

[JoeTheBroOnTheDownLo]

whats wrong with his noise....

[fouramerica]

noise or nose?

[PhilippeDeChampaigne]

They're storing them in case they majorly screw things up with their genetic experiments. You paid for the genetic experiments. With your taxes, and your consumer choices. You trust them to operate biowarfare labs. You buy seeds from Monsanto so you can make a bigger profit. You eat the food. You go about your lives without a care in the world, while your masters feed off you like parasites. Freedom is not free. Freedom is not free.

[MDUMANOVIC]

Freedom IS free, but this ain't freedom.

[TheRealVerbz]

I encourage ALL people watching this to please watch this segment here called "The Secret Life of Plants".

watch?v=wt3smrXkVpE

The documentary is with Cleave Baxter.

He never really got credit for the original work.

There was a book written by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird in 1973.

This is proof that plants utilize a consciousness just like Humans. Either that or they amplify the consciousness of whatever organisms are around them.

Enjoy!

[BallinTrollin]

I HOPE THEY STORE HEMP SEEDS....HEMP for FUEL, FIBER, FOOD, MEDICINE, and PAPER!

[michael2649]

pretty narrow focus there BT but i'm sure they will

[BallinTrollin]

Why is it narrow?

There are more uses for hemp but i kept the list narrowed down for obvious reasons....

=/

[screenflicker1]

i drink hemp seeds blended with water and i add hemp protein on top of that. its the world's best protein source.

[svennio]

Hemp is the soulution to all of our problems....You can all thank DuPont and Hearst family for NO access

[DauthiPsycho]

svennio, hemp could save the planet! you are completely right. i wish everyone had your understanding. hemp is a plant of the gods. it's illegal in almost every state in the USA because it threatens profit of big businessmen. the first engine ran on hemp oil.

[RARB1977]

yeah, hemp was forbiden when farmaceutical and oil companies started making sinthetic fibers and some kind of farmaceuticals, like anti depressants. you can patent a plant, but you can patent a chemical that simulates it...

also, the nº1 competitor of sinthetic fiber was Hemp...

forbiding hemp is a crime against humanity at all levels

[DauthiPsycho]

RARB1977, i couldn't agree more! pharmaceutical companies, synthetic distributors, along with crude oil manufacturers wouldn't make their large surplus of profit if hemp was completely legal. deaths directly caused by hemp? ZER0! it's a conspiracy. a true conspiracy.

[RARB1977]

yeah man, just take a look at the ridiculous campaigns they did in the old days to induce fear about hemp...when you notice that a massive public campaign needs to lie to make their point, it should sound suspicious from day 1 :)

[mrmaciejm]

Plants are fascinating organisms. They ere more sophisticated that most of people thinks.

[CaliforniaWanderer]

I do hope they are storing every known strain of cannabis because that is the single most important plant to our survival and has been through out our world's history. Amazing plant for fiber, medicine, food, paper, clothing, oil, lotions, and much more...and it grows so fast and doesn't need radioactive pesticides to grow. LEGALIZE CANNABIS SO WE CAN USE IT AS A GREAT NATURAL RESOURCE AGAIN!!!

[ijustneedvideos]

good shit.

[CaliforniaWanderer]

lol seriously...It's one of the safest, if not the safest recreational plant that makes you feel great and it helps you in so many ways...it also doesn't have any hangover effect or withdrawal effect. It also is subject to many cures and even preventions in many diseases known today to kill millions a year. In an article posted in the 1970s, a magazine claimed it had over 250 medicinal uses and over 30,000 uses in all! Look into this people! The law is wrong!

[ijustneedvideos]

one must smoke a blunt every day

[ubuibiok]

★★★★★

[ksalbrecht88]

I wonder if the have a bank of cannabis/HEMP seeds.

That plant has to be in the top 100 most important plants on the planet.

[Romperjet]

i don't think we will need a "bank" of them. there are enough private citizens who keep them. ;-)

[Truthiness231]

Less than $3000 dollars to save a single species isn't a whole lot honestly. The US alone spends $millions a year to get single animal species alive. Sounds like a fantastic project honestly ^.^

Anyone know where to donate money? The thought that I could actually save a species myself is pretty damn tempting.

[BunyPunter]

Introduction of new/alien species... Ask the Native Americans about that one. (no that was not meant to be unkind, just observational as we tend to think that since we are human we are above our own scientific methods of observation)...

On a less serious note I think he's stolen a seed and is hiding it smack dab on the center of his nose.

[IdleBystander1]

This kind of stuff really appeals to me. Sorta goes along with talks like Aubrey de Grey's Methuselah Prize and the the Long Now Foundation.

[rb2h]

his shirt is nicely creased.

[1urbandevil]

If we stopped fighting wars and just planted food, and worked on technology/education/History we would not need to worry about saving seeds.

Is this not just bunkers for the army and the elite?

Yes having food is important, so why have patents and terminator seeds then?

Oh yes we have to fight wars!

Why?

Corporate greed?

Power over people?

Resources?

Or is this for all humans you and I?

Saving the future for all our childrens children is the most important thing in the world.

[1urbandevil]

We the people can think of better ways to look after our futures and its not fighting and digging holes to hide in after we kill others for power/Greed.

Its sad to see this happening to our world.

[CreativeMessage]

World Food Supply - Put simply, the future of the world's food supply rests in non-hybrid seeds. The push toward hybridization and GM foods is becoming irreversible. Hybrid food sources are patented and "owned" by the patent-holders. It is, in fact, a form of patent-infringement to attempt to collect and plant seeds from many hybrid varieties."

[CreativeMessage]

Google search: "The Importance of Non-Hybrid Seeds". This is about control of your food supply - just like everything else. ie. free energy, education (service learning), politicians, scientific cures and war.

[biggerflexible]

Sussex...sounds like something you'd get arrested for in Texas.

[Atoyota]

what was not mentioned are the many varieties of specie we have already lost, from apples to wheat. Common specie that have evolved properties that could be useful in changing environments.

[Organjic]

There's a reason they are doing this... GMOs!!!!!

[Mrmoc7]

I'll pay more attention to you when you bring me a P.h.D in some plant related area in Biology.

[Organjic]

as for you? You prove nothing. GMO engineered food can be harmful, by causing cancer, which is well known.

[Mrmoc7]

I don't suppose you have a respectable source for that? You know,like a respectable science journal? No?

Yea, that's what I thought. :P

[michael2649]

Search "Cannabis: The Scientific And Medical Evidence" in google it will bring up the 1998 house of lords science report.

[Mrmoc7]

What does this have to do with GMO foods?

[NwZ2]

In before some anti-science ideology says 'THAT'S NOT USEFUL. STOP WASTING MONEY!"

[MelCartman]

Similar facilities MUST be constructed in several locations on Earth.

[tubehax]

dont be such a treehugger lol

[MelCartman]

It is called "spreading the risk".

[cosy18]

is sad that we really have to do this things

[xavierartorivs]

The real purpose of a seed bank is to prepare for any catastrophic event. There are seed banks in Iceland, Greenland, and various locations around the world. Unfortunately, one of the newest seed banks is now only 25ft above sea level. When it was designed, it was further away from the shore.

[thpt]

The Irish Potato Famine happened because very few kinds of potatoes were grown and all of them were susceptible to the blight.

We're narrowing down the plants we eat every year -- corn, rice, wheat; less kinds of each are grown every year because it's easier for BigAg to only do one or two grow-outs. We are more and more susceptible to famines.

Genetic diversity of plants is very, very important. Turn your lawn into a garden and save your seed.

[Fuliginosus]

I'm distracted by the creases on his new shirt.

[LaughingUpwards]

haha

[Airave]

Thanks and Good Luck to us all!

[saxquiz]

I didn't realize seed was so important. Maybe I should quit spilling mine wantonly every night.

[yared94]

Yeah, same here.

[sheepwshotguns]

♫ every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great ♫

watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

[flyhead2]

I've gone to seed.

[smkymcnugget420]

oh wait wait wait..i know this one...they are buys all the heirloom seeds so that big agribusinesses and governments can have a monopoly on the food supply!!

[xavierartorivs]

There is one legal case where a farmer who used genetically modified seeds on his land. The corn had grown and somehow migrated to the neighboring farm. The seed company sued the 2nd farmer and won for illegally using their seeds. I'll have to look up the case #. So a seed monopoly is not out of the question.

[thpt]

That's happened with literally thousands of farmers all over US and Canada and now India as well. Monsanto is sueing out of business and then buying up small farms. Watch 'future of food', google vid or hulu.

[thpt]

They're already patenting genes so they can 'own' the food.

Save heirloom seed, it's going to be the only/best option.

[Opiman000]

And I am finding that I cannot get good seeds from plants I buy from greehouses anymore...they don't seem to produce seeds that 'work' next season...

Are they engineered to do this?

At any rate, I have found a place to purchase heritage seeds and have started my collection.

And storage is very important...

[TravisMorien]

I don't think they are deliberately rendered infertile, but a lot of plants sold commercially are hybrids or cultivars which can only be propagated through cuttings, tissue culture or grafting.

[smkymcnugget420]

i was under the assumption that they did that deliberatly. that way they still make money off it, how could you make money if people could just collect their seeds at the end of the season. Its ALL about money...It always is...

[TravisMorien]

I'm not so sure. I've had a bit of experience propagating plants for a hobby, and there is certainly nothing unusual about creating infertile hybrids. Hybrids often produce higher yields and good quality fruit, but the plants are often infertile.

Dedicated nurseries churn out huge quantities of artificially pollinated seedlings, or growers can produce their own hybrids if they know what they're doing.

[blueskies66]

They are geo modified to NOT grow from their own seeds. Smky is right it's about controlling food source..but it goes to nutrition too where it gets evil. I have a real world insight about codex alimentarius and it's not for the good of anything and is in effect right now. Seeds today and water is next. Watch for the love of water on goog vids.

[blueskies66]

They haven't perfected the process though because some of my corn reseeded itself this year. The hard part to swallow literally, is the deficient nutrition values in the plants now from what it was 20 years ago. :( I have a vid in favs about that I'm sure.

[smb12321]

I "feed" my garden compost made during the year and achieve stunning results. Sure, using the same ground year in and year out results in poor soil but enriching with a covering of leaves, compost, etc l helps immeasurably. Also, I rarely use artificial fertilizers. Sometimes, it's the simple things that work.

[cosy18]

afaik that seeds are under patents and are one time use seeds

[CodeKitten]

Old news :) My guess is they won't be storing those :D

[DavidMTRutten]

Not ALL life depends on plants. Many fungii and most bacteria will happily live without plants. There are even some deep-sea ecosystems with no plants involved.

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

Excellent. So our species may even be able to survive a nuclear world war (or some other event on that scale). Enough military personnel are stored in bunker facilities as workers and enough seeds to replant.

[bcosten2007]

yes then the only survivors would be the military minded. how great for us all.

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

Look, dipshit, survival of the species is important. How would they be military minded when there is no one left to fight? They would learn to be farmers in a hurry.

[mermadeinheaven]

"How would they be military minded when there is no one left to fight?"

They'll nominate someone like they always do.

[bcosten2007]

i'm not saying they would continue to fight an international war - i'm just saying that if all the world was left with was people from military culture then it would be a boring place to live

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

I absolutely agree, but it's a fact. If the world goes cataclysmic, the only survivors would be a few thousand Arabs, a few hundred thousand Russians, maybe 100 thousand Chinese, another few hundred thousand US- and they would ALL be military and government personnel. The numbers of civilians who could weather something like a nuclear winter would only be in the FEW thousands worldwide. Our species would survive, but it we would never have the world back like it is now.

[bcosten2007]

well, as you say, at least humans would survive... to do it all over again. and perhaps there would be an artist or two born into military families. perhaps next time when you respond to a stranger on the net you will not be so quick to be hostile. perhaps the irony is lost on you but it is that trait that will doom humanity if there ever is a nuclear war.

[doford]

Amazing work. Nice to know people are saving the world.

[Xakryn]

Smart fucking idea. All people should have their own personal stock of seeds for growing their own . Don't let Monsanto get any more of a monopoly over seeds then they already have. They're GMing everything.

[Mindwobble]

seeds are great they grow into many a wonder.pot hops barley  rice

grapes all start with one lil seed.

im thirsty for beer now

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

We have a garden full of heirloom seeds: tomatoes, squash, okra, lettuce, radishes, tobacco, peppers, etc.