Zombie plants have the uncanny ability to effectively come back from the dead. Now, in the face of accelerated, human-caused climate change, scientists are studying them to help understand how they can survive for upwards of 6 months without water.
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00:00These are what are sometimes referred to as resurrection plants, zombie plants and the
00:08like, all with the uncanny ability to effectively come back from the dead.
00:11Now in the face of accelerated human-caused climate change, scientists are studying them
00:16to help understand how they can survive for upwards of six months without water.
00:20Only 240 of the 352,000 flowering species we know of can do this, with some of the zombie
00:26plants able to survive and regrow after having lost 95% of their water contents.
00:31This ability could be invaluable for plants we rely on for food, as droughts begin to
00:35worsen, especially crops like maize.
00:37That plant has incredible difficulty coming back after periods of drought, however it
00:41is also a crop that millions around the world rely on for food.
00:45Researchers are now figuring out the process of their resurrectability, finding that they
00:48use sugars to vitrify cells.
00:50This allows them to preserve their structure despite drying out, dissolving the photosynthetic
00:54mechanisms they won't need in the interim, while utilizing protective proteins, meaning
00:58if scientists could create hybrid plants that mirror this ability, we could build our future
01:02defenses against a warming planet.
01:04For reference in the US, drought, wildfires and heat caused $16.6 billion in crop losses
01:11in 2023 alone.