EAST LANSING, Mich. — The question of whether there can be life anywhere else but earth has been one that scientists have been studying for years. One professor at Michigan State University and her group of students just completed a project that showed that there might indeed be a possibility.
"We knew we had only one shot and had to be super careful," said MSU Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology, Federica Brandizzi.
After months of preparing and working with NASA, Brandizzi and her team of research students... set out to send plant seeds into orbit around the moon with several questions in mind.
"How do seeds respond to space flight, especially when we want to reach new frontiers like the moon, can we do something in our lab that can improve the performance of these seeds and ensure better survival?" questioned Brandizzi.
Fueled with curiosity about how to make seeds successfully grow in space, Professor Brandizzi and her team of students furthered the experiment by landing on one major focus.
"If we equip seeds with more amino acids, would they be better at withstanding space stress? Brandizzi said.
On earth, amino acids play an important role in telling a plant whether to start growing or stop. The same process occurs in space.
After getting the seeds back from orbit and conducting tests, Professor Brandazzi and her students made a final determination.
"Space has affected the levels of amino acids and then reduced it to a level that makes seeds germinate," explained Brandizzi.
Professor Brandizzi says while we may not know exactly why, the experiment was a success showing seeds can adapt to space and grow just like they do on earth.
"With enough research into biological specimens, I think we can learn how to better sustain human habitation of extraterrestrial surfaces," asserted Brandizzi.
