UF researchers will launch seeds into space to prepare for the future of space travel and Earth’s changing environment Friday.
The researchers will be conducting an experiment on plants’ epigenetics, or how the environment in space modifies plants’ DNA, said Collin LeFrois, a second-year UF doctoral student working with the researchers. Studying plants in space will help researchers understand how they grow while Earth’s environment changes.
“The important thing is that this is kind of the first experiment of its kind,” LeFrois said.
The researchers at the UF Space Plants lab will be using different methods than before, allowing them to see a clearer picture of DNA methylation in spaceflight in plants, he said.
Methylation groups form on top of the DNA, said Anna-Lisa Paul, the co-principal investigator with the lab. They change how the DNA is packaged and ultimately affect which genes are expressed.
Once the seeds of the arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family, reach the International Space Station, astronauts will plant them in a growth hardware machine and take photos of their growth for 11 days. Then, the plants will return to Earth to be studied at the UF Space Plants Lab, Paul said.
UF researchers have sent plants into space six other times, Paul said. Studying plants reactions to space is important because as carbon dioxide levels and pollutants increase on Earth, it becomes more stressful for plants to grow, she said.
Paul said she knows humans aren’t going to be on Earth forever.
“Even if it means short exploration trips to Mars or to the moon, we are going to need to bring plants with us. It’s what we do,” she said.
The article has been updated to reflect that because researchers are using new methods of study, the experiment is the first of its kind.
