How Does a Seed Bank Preserve Seeds?

Quick Answer

Seed banks dry seeds to low moisture content and store them at sub-zero temperatures, allowing viability for decades or centuries.

The Full Story

Seed banks preserve crop and wild-plant genetic diversity against extinction, disease, and climate change. Seeds are first cleaned, then dried to about 3–7% moisture content in drying rooms kept at 15°C and 15% relative humidity. They are then sealed in airtight foil packets or glass jars and stored in freezers at around −18°C to −20°C. Under these conditions, most orthodox seeds remain viable for 100 to 200+ years. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway holds over 1.3 million seed samples from nearly every country, stored deep inside an Arctic mountain as a backup to national gene banks.

Key Facts

1.The Millennium Seed Bank at Kew holds seeds from over 40,000 species — about 16% of the world's wild flowering plants.

2.A 2,000-year-old Judean date palm seed was successfully germinated by scientists in 2005.

3.Some seeds, called "recalcitrant," cannot survive drying and must be preserved as living plants or tissue cultures.

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