I heard more details on the story on NPR (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2020/02/06/803186316/dates-like-jesus-ate-scientists-revive-ancient-trees-from-2-

I heard more details on the story on NPR (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2020/02/06/803186316/dates-like-jesus-ate-scientists-revive-ancient-trees-from-2-000-year-old-seeds https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2020/02/06/803186316/da...). They originally germinated the one seed, but it's male and has no female counterpart to create fruit. So, they successfully germinated more from another collection, and it turned out they were female. They had no idea what they would get, and as the paper outlines, they don't know why some, but not all, germinated. Seriously amazing when you think that this biological reproduction function works after having been dormant for so many years.