Light has a principal role in the Arabidopsis transcriptomic response to the spaceflight environment

Transcriptomic dynamics in the transition from ground to space are revealed by Virgin Galactic human-tended suborbital spaceflight

Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration

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University of Florida

Anna-Lisa Paul is the Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and a research Professor of Horticultural Sciences in the program of Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology. She is part of the UF-Research senior executive group and is chair of the Astraeus Space Institute Administrators council. Anna Lisa’s research focuses on plant gene expression in response to environmental change relevant to space exploration. Anna-Lisa uses orbital and suborbital environments to study the molecular genetic/epigenetic responses of plants to spaceflight and the transition to space, worked in extreme terrestrial environments, and worked with true lunar regolith from the Apollo era. Paul serves on two National Academies Committees associated with space exploration research.

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University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers Dr. Rob Ferl and Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul team up to emphasize the superpower of a shared journey — and fist bump every now and then.

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Dr. Rob Ferl and Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul 2024 commencement speech

Can you actually grow potatoes on Mars? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Paul Mecurio explore how to grow plants in space and whether we can farm on the Moon and Mars with University of Florida Space Plants Lab biologists Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl.

Do we have experience trying to grow things on moon soil? Learn about regolith and the moon dirt brought back by the Apollo missions. What is the difference between dirt and soil? What are the challenges of growing plants in non-living soil? Discover orbital plant research, microgravity, and what happens to biology when not protected by Earth’s magnetic field. How do plants respond to space at a molecular level? 

What types of plants are used for space plant research? Learn about Arabidopsis thaliana and its role in space plant research. What does it taste like? Discover the many ways to stress a plant out. Are different areas of the moon better for farming? We explore what makes good soil and what regolith might need to make growing plants more viable. 

How does zero gravity affect how plants grow? How do plants know which direction to grow? Do plants grow toward light or against gravity? Is it a bit of both? Will future astronauts have to be vegetarians? Would food taste better or worse grown on the moon? What about moon wine? You will learn about other possible space-grown food. Could human feces be used as fertilizer like on The Martian? All that, plus, in the space-horticulturalist sequel who would play Anna-Lisa and Robert?

Thanks to our Patrons Andrew Herron, Bhargava Kandada, Mark Roop, Martin Bonner, Pete Quist, and Estee Catti-Schmidt for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

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“Black Swan” & “White Swan” limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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0:00 - Introduction
4:20 - Lunar Regolith
7:48 - Growing Plants in Regolith
11:28 - Space Plants Lab
13:39 - Solar Wind
17:47 - Space Plants Studies
25:08 - Moon Geography
26:25 - Apollo 11 Regolith vs Apollo 17 Regolith
28:17 - Volcanic Ash
31:32 - Plants in Zero G
40:13 - Lighting in Space
42:42 - Vegetarian vs Omnivorous Diets
47:06 - Feces As A Fertilizer
52:31 - Improving Infertile Soil on Earth
53:27 - Closing Notes

Farming on the Moon with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Anna-Lisa Paul &amp; Robert Ferl

Space Science Week Public Lecture

This is the story of how two UF/IFAS researchers tried and finally succeeded in getting NASA to loan samples of the moon's surface to research if plants could grow in lunar soil.

https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2022/05/12/a-first-scientists-grow-plants-in-soil-from-the-moon/

#lunarplants, #moonplants, #plantsonthemoon

A Tale of Moon Dust at the University of Florida

Women in science at the University of Florida are at the brink of creating world-changing innovations. One woman scientist in particular is bringing us closer to growing plants in space. Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul always knew she wanted to be a scientist, but never could have imagined she'd be the first woman to grow plants in lunar soil. Her team at UF/IFAS has sent experiments on space shuttles, to the International Space Station, and on suborbital flights.

Learn more about her work with lunar plants: https://fal.cn/3xuNV 

Follow the University of Florida on social media:  
Twitter: twitter.com/UF  
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UF women in science are bringing us closer to growing plants in space

Anna-Lisa Paul

University of Florida

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Seeding Exploration

Humans are explorers — go boldly

Space Plants

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Light has a principal role in the Arabidopsis transcriptomic response to the spaceflight environment

Transcriptomic dynamics in the transition from ground to space are revealed by Virgin Galactic human-tended suborbital spaceflight

Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration

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