Food-secure thanks to the “resurrection plant”

Thanks to this plant’s special properties, we can survive periods of drought.

A plant that can survive for years without water—that is the remarkable resurrection plant. When it rains or you water it, the leaves absorb all the water and the plant comes back to life (read here exactly how that works).

Sounds freaky, but according to Jill Farrant, a molecular physiologist from South Africa, this plant could ensure that food shortages do not occur in times of potential climate change and drought.

Farrant is investigating how the genes in this plant can be used for cereals, rice and maize. This could enable these crops to survive enormous periods of drought.

Text: Nora van den Heuvel
Source: BBC
Image: SPL