NASA, Aug 19.- Faced with the imminent destabilization of ecosystems and the extinction of many species that make up the planet’s biodiversity and are threatened by climate change and human activity, an international group of scientists has proposed creating a repository of genetic material on the Moon.
In an academic paper, the experts suggest “long-term storage of prioritized taxa from living cryopreserved samples to safeguard Earth’s biodiversity and support future space exploration and terraforming of planets.”
This means that certain tissue samples would be treated with a cryopreservation process. This involves freezing living matter at temperatures between -80°C and -196°C to keep its vital functions suspended for a long period of time. This is currently done with embryos as part of the in vitro fertilization process.
“Collections of cryopreserved materials can be thawed to recover DNA, intact cells, and even whole functional organisms,” the scientists said.
The Moon was chosen to create the biorepository because the existing deposits on Earth require constant human intervention for their operation, from electricity to continuous supplies of liquid nitrogen to maintain stable temperatures below 0. Because of this, any natural disaster or large-scale war could endanger their integrity.
On the Moon there are areas where the presence of people is not necessary to maintain temperatures within the values required for cryopreservation.
One of the largest reservoirs is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic. “It is a passive biorepository that keeps seeds at -18°C due to the natural surrounding temperature of the permafrost. Changing climate conditions threaten the stability of the Svalbard Seed Vault, but there is no atmosphere on the Moon and therefore no threat of climate change,” the scientists explained.
Initially, they will focus on dealing with skins of animals in danger of extinction, or that play an essential role in their food webs, and that contain fibroblasts (cells essential for the formation of connective tissue).
“Two key factors for this biorepository are the need to reduce radiation damage and to maintain samples near -196 °C. Certain lunar sites near the poles may meet these criteria,” they said in the article.
Large craters in the polar regions are permanently in shadow and would have temperatures low enough to keep cells frozen. To ensure that the samples can withstand the lunar environment, tests will be carried out both in laboratories and on the International Space Station. Scientists have already successfully cryopreserved the fins of the star-shaped goby fish.
The presence of living tissue on the Moon could be a major step toward understanding how space affects cells and how they behave in that environment.
Furthermore, the same samples could be used to facilitate human exploration of the galaxy, as they would provide food and the biomaterials required for microbial decomposition and ecosystem engineering.
Beyond safeguarding terrestrial biodiversity in case different factors cause its extinction, the project would include organisms necessary for terraforming. This process involves modifying the atmosphere, temperature and establishing ecosystems necessary for life on other planets.
Several scientists, including former NASA chief scientist Dr. James Green, have discussed the possibility of doing this on Mars in the future, in the hopes of making it a habitable world. However, if the trend of increasing average annual temperatures continues and greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities do not cease, it may be necessary to terraform the Earth itself.
This ambitious project is expensive and will have to overcome numerous challenges related to transporting samples, radiation from space that hits the Moon, and the effects of microgravity on cells. It will take decades to complete, according to scientists. However, if possible, it would mean a breakthrough that could ensure the continuity of thousands of terrestrial species, as well as a new possibility to facilitate space exploration.
“We are not anticipating a total failure on Earth – if Earth is biologically destroyed, this biorepository will not matter. This is meant to help offset natural disasters and potentially increase space travel. (Cubasí)
