What are droughts?
Water is very important to humans, plants, and animals. We need water to survive. Water is also required for us to cook food and do numerous other things.
Unfortunately, many people live in areas where water is not available for a long time. This situation is known as a drought. A drought is a natural disaster that occurs when there is a water shortage in an area for a long time.
Droughts can happen in any part of the world, especially in hot and dry areas.
What are the harmful effects of droughts?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around forty percent of the world’s population is in danger of being affected by droughts. Droughts also cause other natural disasters like floods (sudden rainfall in drought-affected areas can cause floods). Humans can survive droughts by moving to other areas, but plants and animals do not have that choice. Recently, scientists have found a way to create plants that are more drought-resistant plants.
How did scientists create plants that are more drought-resistant?
Plants are made of countless tiny cells with around twenty billion protein molecules inside these cells!
Scientists found that a specific protein molecule called the Huntingtin Yeast Interactor Protein K (HYPK) is the key to making plants more drought-resistant.
They genetically modified a plant called thale cress and found that when HYPK was removed from plants, they become more resistant to droughts.
What is the significance of this discovery?
Scientists now know how thale cress can be made more drought-resistant. But, HYPK is also found in rice and in humans as well. This discovery might help us find ways to fight droughts and other environmental changes. The possibilities of what we can do with this discovery are unlimited!
