The world’s oldest tree? Genetic analysis traces evolution of iconic Pando forest

DNA from ‘Pando’ — a vast forest made up of a single root system sprouting nearly 50,000 cloned quaking aspen trees — seems to confirm that it is one of the oldest organisms on Earth. Researchers sequenced hundreds of samples from the Populus tremuloides and found that it is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old. They were also able to track patterns of genetic variation spread throughout the tree, offering clues about how it has adapted and evolved over the course of its lifetime.