Surviving the desert
Hartwell has been fascinated by desert plants since he was an undergraduate, and his interest carried through to his doctorate and a research Fellowship. What Liverpool University have added to the research is sophisticated DNA sequencing technology. ‘We tapped into that,’ says Hartwell, ‘and realised it was perfect for going into our desert plants and starting to understand what genes they are using to survive desert conditions and, in particular, to perform this nocturnal CO2 fixation that they do.’

This aspect of the plant is taking on major significance. ‘The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted that in the next 50 years, already arid regions will become more arid,’ explains Hartwell, ‘and if they will expand, there will be increasing desertification.’

Using the knowledge
There are two possible directions in which the results of this research may be used. They are not actually producing a desert plant but their high level research may lead to that.  They may be able to deploy the knowledge and, potentially, some of the genes into food crops such as wheat, barley and soya beans. Though, as Hartwell points out, it relies on ‘Genetically Modified food becoming widely accepted’.

The other route is that these plants could be grown for biomass that could feed into biofuel production. ‘If this is viable we could perhaps provide, certainly a percentage, of the world’s biofuel needs through using marginal land, and growing desert plants that are very happy to grow there.’ With questions being asked about the impact of current biofuel production, as well as food production and prices, the research at Liverpool can create real possibilities for adapting land usage in a time of climate change.