{{short description|South African botanist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} '''Jill Farrant''' (born 5 December 1960 in Modimolle), professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa,<ref name=MCB>{{cite web|title=Professor Jill M. Farrant |url=http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/Staff/JMF/index.htm |publisher=Molecular and Cell Biology |accessdate=31 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827042528/http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/Staff/JMF/index.htm |archivedate=27 August 2012 }}</ref> is a leading expert on resurrection plants, which 'come back to life' from a desiccated, seemingly dead state when they are rehydrated.
== Research work ==
Farrant is investigating the ability of certain species of plants which are able to survive without water for long periods of time.<ref name=UN/> As Farrant explains, "[a]ll plants have the genes that enable desiccation tolerance, but most use them only when they make seeds. Resurrection plants can also switch these genes on in their leaves and roots whenever drought occurs."<ref>{{cite web|last=Bisseker|first=Claire|title=Raising the dead|url=http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx?id=159538|publisher=FM|accessdate=1 June 2012|date=24 November 2011|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730064924/http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx%3Fid%3D159538|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ultimate goal of her research is to find applications that will lead to the development of drought-tolerant crops to nourish populations in arid, drought-prone climates,<ref name=agora/> notably in Africa, and her research may have medicinal applications as well. Farrant believes food crops which can survive long stretches without water "will become more important as climate change (increasing drought) continues to impact on agriculture."<ref>{{cite web|title=Jill Farrant wins major global award for her contribution to life sciences |url=http://theearthisround.co.za/uct_contact/articles/201201/jill-farrant-wins-major-global-award-for-her-contribution-to-life-sciences/index.html |publisher=The Earth is Round |accessdate=1 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901212413/http://theearthisround.co.za/uct_contact/articles/201201/jill-farrant-wins-major-global-award-for-her-contribution-to-life-sciences/index.html |archivedate= 1 September 2012 }}</ref>
Farrant is currently investigating the potential of turning eragrostis tef, an annual grass, into just such a crop. Eragrostis tef seeds are a high-protein staple food in Ethiopia, and it is closely related to a drought-resistant resurrection grass.<ref name=M&G>{{cite web|title=Resurrection plant could save us|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-06-24-resurrection-plant-could-save-us|publisher=Mail & Guardian|accessdate=1 June 2012|date=24 June 2010}}</ref><ref name=M&G2>{{cite web|title=Tapping into the secrets of plants|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2010-11-05-tapping-into-the-secrets-of-plants|publisher=Mail & Guardian|accessdate=1 June 2012|date=5 November 2010}}</ref> According to Farrant, "[i]n the same way that humans have bred plant species together over the centuries to create oats, maize and wheat, so too can we breed desiccation-tolerant, drought-resistant crops in the Eragrostis family without having to go the genetically modified route."<ref name=M&G/>
== Personal life ==
Farrant became interested in resurrection plants as a child when she saw a "dead" plant 'come back to life' after a rain fall.<ref name=Maverick>{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Rebecca|title=Jill Farrant: The Resurrection Plant - and Woman|url=http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-04-12-jill-farrant-the-resurrection-plant-and-woman|accessdate=31 May 2012|newspaper=Daily Maverick|date=12 April 2012}}</ref> As a 9-year-old Farrant noted in her diary in 1970, "The ded [sic] plant on the rocks was alive but Dad wouldn't believe me."<ref name=agora/>
In 2009, Farrant suffered a near-fatal head injury which caused her to lose her senses of taste and smell.<ref name=agora/>
== Background == {{BLP unsourced section|date=June 2012}} * Undergraduate, MSc, and PhD degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. * NRF President's Award for researchers who, on the basis of exceptional potential demonstrated in their published doctoral work, are considered likely to become future international leaders in their field. * 2008 SAAB Silver Medal for Excellence in Botany. * Fellow of the Royal Society of Southern Africa, the University of Cape Town and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Foundation. * 2010. Department of Science and Technology award for being the most distinguished women scientist. * President of South African Association of Botanists (2009–2010).
== Awards ==
In 2010, Farrant was awarded the €100,000 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award for her research into resurrection plants.<ref name="Business Day">{{cite web|last=Blaine|first=Sue|title='Resurrection plants' expert wins award|url=http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=110374|publisher=Business Day|accessdate=31 May 2012|date=31 May 2010|archive-date=6 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306040058/http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=110374|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012, she received the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science, along with a USD $100,000 prize.<ref name=UN>{{cite web|title=UN and L'Oreal announce winners of women in science award|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40335&Cr=science&Cr1=|publisher=UN News Centre|accessdate=31 May 2012|date=8 November 2011}}</ref><ref name=agora>{{cite web|title=Who is Jill Farrant|url=http://agora.forwomeninscience.com/index.php/2012/03/who-is-jill-farrant/|publisher=Agora|accessdate=31 May 2012|date=29 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618093059/http://agora.forwomeninscience.com/index.php/2012/03/who-is-jill-farrant|archive-date=18 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YYdgqZaXCc Resurrection plant video] * [https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_farrant_how_we_can_make_crops_survive_without_water How we can make crops survive without water], TED 2015
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrant, Jill}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates Category:20th-century South African botanists Category:Living people Category:21st-century South African women scientists Category:21st-century South African botanists Category:South African women botanists Category:20th-century South African women scientists