From the edge of a cliff under the Georgian sun to the rain-soaked undergrowth of the Malaysian rainforest, the wild cousins of our domesticated crops are growing in hard-to-reach places all over the world. For centuries, we have ignored them, or worse, labeled them as unwanted weeds – until recently.

Interest in these plants is not completely new, but more and more scientists look to these crop wild relatives, as they are known, in search of traits that are missing from the crops that feed us – traits that can make our agricultural crops more resilient. But to tap into their sturdy nature, we need access to them. And many of these plants – if not most – are missing from the world’s genebanks.