Prehistoric DNA being dug up to see if it can help modern-day crops

Prehistoric plant DNA is being dug up from deep below the Arctic to see if it can help modern-day crops cope with the effects of climate change.

Researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh are working with European scientists to analyse microbes from the palaeolithic period, when, like today, the planet was becoming warmer.

The university team has been awarded £500,000 by Horizon Europe, a European Union scientific research initiative, to spend four years examining ancient soil samples extracted from deep below the Arctic under a project named Tolerate.

Dr Ross Alexander, a plant molecular biologist at Heriot-Watt, said researchers were “using samples from the palaeolithic period, around 100-200,000 years ago, because the planet was warming then, much like now”.

The aim, he said, was “to find out whether the plants, soil and bacteria of the past can help our current crops survive in a rapidly changing planet”.

He said: “Drought is a particular concern for crops around the world.

“According to the latest report of the European Drought Observatory, 47% of the EU is in warning conditions and 17% is in alert conditions. Cereal yields are decreasing by as much as 10% in some areas.”