International Herald Tribune: Six years ago, Jennifer Thomson, a molecular biologist in South Africa, trekked high into the Drakensberg mountain range seeking ways of cultivating food in an increasingly arid environment. After seven hours on the trail, she spotted an inhospitable-looking rock face dotted with green grassy tufts, a cluster of resurrection plants, so called for their ability to spring back to life after surviving periods of drought in a state of desiccated dormancy. Thomson collected samples of the …