The Global Seed Vault can hold massive amounts of seeds. If that variety is in the Seed Vault, it's as safe as it can be." Capacity Today, fires, floods, natural disaster, war, human error, accidents, funding cuts - none of these need cause the extinction of a crop variety. In the past the loss of a variety meant extinction for that variety and any unique trait it might have contained. "If something happens to one of those facilities and if their seed samples are destroyed, then there is a backup copy in the Seed Vault. "The seeds in the Seed Vault are duplicate copies of collections held in national and other seedbanks around the world," said Fowler. The Global Seed Vault is specifically meant, though, to be an aid to other banks. The seed vault can protect these seeds for future generations. According to National Geographic, an estimated 90 percent of historic fruit and vegetable varieties in the United States have disappeared. The vault, and other vaults around the world, can be a way of preserving historical species of plants, as well. Think of the seeds as a collection of traits, or even more broadly as a collection of options our crops will have in the future, options such as disease and pest resistance, drought and heat tolerance, better nutrition, etc." So they are ultimately intended to serve plant breeders and other scientists who are involved in developing new crop varieties for farmers. "Their value and utility lies in their being a genetic resource in plant breeding. ![]() "The seeds are not meant for distribution to farmers or gardeners," said Fowler. Though the vault is thought of as a "doomsday vault" that will be the source of seeds for the world after a worldwide disaster, that isn't really true. ![]() This process helps keep the metabolic activity in the seeds low, keeping them viable for long periods of time. These boxes are placed on shelves inside the vault where temperature and moisture levels are closely monitored. In addition to keeping the seeds at 0 F, the seeds are sealed in three-ply foil packages and then sealed inside boxes. If the electricity goes out or the refrigeration fails, the seeds will also still stay cold due to their location. It is also the farthest north that scheduled airline flights go, making it very remote. ![]() The site is also located in an area that is high up to prevent flooding it is geologically stable and the area has low humidity.
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