In recent years, researchers around the globe have unlocked more and more of the powers of the plant world, demonstrating that the solutions to some of our greatest social and environmental challenges—from hunger and poverty to pollution and global warming—may be found in their genes.

Grains are the staple food of humanity: the vast majority of people on the planet eat either rice, wheat, or corn on a daily basis, and those are all annual crops. The issue with annuals, which complete their life cycle in a few months and must then be replanted, is that they require tremendous inputs of water, fertilizer and, often, pesticides, and herbicides, in order to remain productive on the same plot of land each year. The constant tillage required to plant and replant grains slowly degrades soil over time and leads to erosion by water and wind.