Jill Farrant, professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa,[1] is a leading expert on resurrection plants, which 'come back to life' from a desiccated, seemingly dead state when they are rehydrated.
Farrant believes food crops which can survive long stretches without water "will become more important as climate change (increasing drought) continues to impact on agriculture.
Eragrostis tef seeds are a high-protein staple food in Ethiopia, and it is closely related to a drought-resistant resurrection grass.
[6][7] According to Farrant, "[i]n the same way that humans have bred plant species together over the centuries to create oats, maize and wheat, so too can we breed desiccation-tolerant, drought-resistant crops in the Eragrostis family without having to go the genetically modified route.
[8] As a 9-year-old Farrant noted in her diary in 1970, "The ded [sic] plant on the rocks was alive but Dad wouldn't believe me.