The Shocking True Story of the World's First Seed Bank—And The Scientists Who Sacrificed Their Lives to Save It

During World War II, the Soviet city of Leningrad was surrounded,
cut off from food supplies for nearly two and a half years. People
were desperate: they ate boiled leather, machine oil, toothpaste,
and wallpaper paste just to stay alive. But, in the center of the
city, a group of botanists spent their days surrounded by food that
they refused to touch—nuts, seeds, and even a basement full of
potatoes—even as several of them starved to death. The seeds for
which these scientists were willing to sacrifice their lives formed
the collection of the world's very first seed bank: a library of
crop varieties that contained the genetic diversity future
generations of plant breeders have relied on to feed the world. In
this episode, the story of the almost unimaginable bravery that
lies behind the food we eat today. Learn more about your ad
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