Making another Methuselah

Tree clone project is more for love than logic.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

The world's oldest known living tree is the subject of a much-publicized cloning attempt announced last week in California, but even the man trying to copy "Methuselah" admits he's motivated more by fondness for trees than an expectation of scientific discovery.

On October 8, members of the non-profit Champion Tree Project International led a tissue-sampling excursion to an ancient grove amid the dry, desolate peaks of California's White Mountains, where the 4,768-year-old bristlecone pine nicknamed Methuselah still clings to life. That same night the samples were delivered to Christopher Friel, a plant pathology graduate student at the University of California, Davis, who was recruited by the Champion Tree Project to clone Methuselah.

Friel reports that the one-week-old cultures of those samples look good, but told The Scientist that the chances of a successful cloning are extremely slim. "It is generally thought among tissue culturalists that this is a long shot," ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Leslie Pray

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide