The Climate Challenge
Drought will become more frequent in many areas of the world in the future.
Climate change is bad news for many of our food crops. As the planet warms, rainfall will become more unpredictable. Some areas will become drier and the risk of drought will increase.
Drought causes huge losses in crops across the globe. Even when the lack of water doesn't kill plants outright, it limits their growth, so there's less food for us.
Some biotechnology companies are using GM to produce crops that can survive periods of drought.
Come rain or shine
This moss can survive several weeks without water. Image: Pirex
Some hardy plants can survive with very little water, and experts are using these qualities to make crops that don't die in a drought.
Bryan McKersie, a crop expert with BASF Plant Science, is taking inspiration from moss. 'Mosses are amazing: in a drought, their cells lose water and they become dormant. They can survive weeks and even months without water. As soon as the rain returns, they switch on again, and growth continues where it left off weeks before.'
Scientists are pinpointing genes in moss that they can transfer into rice or maize.
More crop per drop
Bryan McKersie, crop expert, BASF Plant Science. Image: BASF
As climate change kicks in, plants that can survive long, dry spells will become increasingly valuable all over the world – from the USA to China, Africa to Europe.
McKersie thinks the new plants are only a few years away. 'We are expecting the first drought-tolerant maize to be available on the market from 2012,' he says. 'BASF Plant Science and Monsanto are working with an African charity to make the seeds available at reduced cost to small-scale African farmers.'
Salt of the earth
Not much grows on the salty flats of Death Valley, California.
Saltier soils are not an obvious effect of climate change. But as rainfall becomes more unpredictable, more farmers will be forced to pump water from underground to quench their crops' thirst. As ground water is more salty than rainwater, the soil will gradually become saltier too.
Usually, salt damages plants. However, Eric Rey from agricultural company Arcadia says: 'We are using GM to allow plants to produce normal yields and quality in salty soil conditions.'
They didn't have to look too far to find the characteristics they needed...
Low salt
Thale cress can grow in salty conditions. Image: Z Xie et al.
'Thale cress is a tiny, boring-looking plant – and a common weed,' says Rey. Arcadia is researching the genes from thale cress that help the plant to tolerate salt, and transferring them into crop plants to help them survive in salty soils.
Scientists at Arcadia are transferring these genes to other plants to help them survive too. The company has already made a salt-tolerant alfalfa – a pea-like plant. Next, they plan to modify rice and maize in the same way.