Skip to content
Biotech — Technology — Health-and-wellness — Evolution — Space-and-astronomy — Survival — Fitness-and-exercise — Science

Space Bioengineering Advancements: Cultivating Plant Varieties and Microbes Tailored for Space Conditions

Ancient-era time capsule formulated to safeguard humanity for a millennium and a half

,   and  Administrator
4 min read
Timecapsule Containing a 500-Year Message for Future Generations of Humankind
Timecapsule Containing a 500-Year Message for Future Generations of Humankind

Space Bioengineering Advancements: Cultivating Plant Varieties and Microbes Tailored for Space Conditions

In the pursuit of long-term space missions and extraterrestrial colonization, the establishment of reliable and efficient space agriculture is crucial for human survival. Traditional Earth crops and farming methods face numerous challenges in space environments due to limited resources, microgravity, radiation, and closed-loop life support constraints. To surmount these issues, scientists are developing genetically modified plants and microorganisms specifically designed for space agriculture and life support systems.

The Obstacles in Space Agriculture

Space farming must strike an optimal balance between maximizing food production and minimizing inputs such as water, nutrients, and energy. Current space-grown crops, primarily leafy greens like lettuce and mustard, have limited nutritional diversity and short growth cycles. However, space conditions—including microgravity, radiation, and confined environments—significantly impact plant growth, nutrient uptake, and defense mechanisms.

Engineered Plants for Space: The WBEEP Strategy

Researchers from China have proposed the Whole-Body Edible and Elite Plant (WBEEP) strategy to develop crops tailored for space agriculture. The goal is to create plants that:

  • Provide more edible parts, reducing waste and increasing food yield per plant.
  • Contain higher nutritional content to support astronaut health.
  • Exhibit increased yields and better nutrient use efficiency to minimize fertilizer needs.
  • Demonstrate stress tolerance to thrive under spaceflight conditions.

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a promising candidate for WBEEP development due to its high energy content, simple cultivation, and ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually. However, natural potatoes have limitations such as solanine toxicity in aerial parts and low fertilizer efficiency. Ongoing bioengineering efforts aim to:

  • Lower solanine levels by introducing metabolism genes from tomatoes, making the entire plant edible.
  • Boost vitamin and functional metabolite synthesis through strategic genetic regulation.
  • Improve photosynthesis efficiency and carbon fixation to enhance yield.
  • Optimize root architecture and nutrient absorption to reduce fertilizer demand.

Although practical WBEEP crops for space are still under development, this strategy's potential benefits extend beyond space agriculture, potentially aiding Earth agriculture as well.

Microorganisms: The Hidden Allies in Space Agriculture

On Earth, plants rely on plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) that aid nutrient uptake, hormone regulation, pathogen resistance, and stress tolerance. Space agriculture similarly requires microbial partners to sustain healthy plant growth in challenging environments.

Recent studies aboard the ISS have identified bacterial strains capable of producing growth hormones, modulating plant ethylene levels, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, solubilizing phosphate, and inhibiting fungal pathogens. Utilizing these space-compatible PGBP as "probiotics" for plants can improve yields and reduce fertilizer inputs in closed-loop life support systems on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Developing a customized microbiome tailored to space conditions is a promising approach to enhancing space farming sustainability.

Technologies and Methods Supporting Space Agriculture

  • Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): NASA experiments use LED lighting, porous substrates, and controlled-release fertilizers to optimize resource delivery to roots.
  • Ethylene Management: Devices like Bio-KES convert ethylene (a plant hormone that may inhibit growth in closed environments) into harmless compounds, improving plant health.
  • Rapid Evolution and Selection: Projects like SustainSpace use iterative spaceflight cycles to evolve plant populations better adapted to microgravity and space conditions.
  • Regolith Utilization: Research investigates using lunar and Martian soil simulants as growth substrates, supplemented by microbial inoculants to improve nutrient availability.

Future Outlook and Importance

Developing genetically modified plants and beneficial microorganisms specifically designed for space agriculture will be essential for:

  • Sustaining long-duration missions by providing reliable, nutritious food.
  • Supporting bioregenerative life support systems that recycle air, water, and waste.
  • Reducing Earth resupply dependence for deep-space exploration.
  • Promoting astronaut health and psychological well-being through fresh food and green environments.

Although space agriculture remains in its infancy, ongoing technological advancements and microbial ecology research are propelling the field forward. The integration of WBEEP crops and space-adapted microbiomes will likely be foundational to humanity's ability to live and thrive beyond Earth.

Additional Considerations

Recent innovations in smart agriculture, agricultural technology development programs, sustainable energy applications, and bioengineering advancements offer potential value to the future of space agriculture. Integrating these advancements with a focus on creating more resilient and efficient crops for space agriculture will be critical for achieving sustainability in controlled environments.

References

  • "Biotechnological development of plants for space agriculture," Nature Communications, 2021.
  • "Scientists Identify Biotech Techniques to Improve Space Agriculture," ISAAA, 2021.
  • "Growing Plants in Space," NASA.
  • "How Space Farming Works," HowStuffWorks.
  • "SustainSpace: Rapid Evolution of Space-Adapted Crops," BSGN.
  • "Identification of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria Within Space Crop Systems," Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2021.
  • "Bacteria Could Help 'Space Farmers' Grow Plants on Mars," Innovation News Network, 2021.
  • "Engineering Issues of Microbial Ecology in Space Agriculture," PubMed, 2005.
  1. The Whole-Body Edible and Elite Plant (WBEEP) strategy, which aims to create more edible plant parts, increase nutritional content, improve yields, and enhance stress tolerance, could play a significant role in space agriculture, potentially aiding terrestrial agriculture as well.
  2. Utilizing plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) as probiotics in space agriculture could help improve plant growth in challenging environments by aiding nutrient uptake, hormone regulation, pathogen resistance, and stress tolerance.
  3. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) involves using LED lighting, porous substrates, and controlled-release fertilizers to optimize resource delivery to roots in space farming, contributing to more efficient production.
  4. Developing a customized microbiome tailored to space conditions and integrating it with genetically modified plants will likely be crucial for achieving sustainability and reducing Earth resupply dependence in space agriculture, expanding humanity's ability to live and thrive beyond Earth.

Read also:

    Latest