Amid a changing climate, highlighted by rising global temperatures and sea levels, scientists have suggested a plan to safeguard the future for endangered Earth-based species: create a biological repository on the Moon.
Life on Earth is unique, at least in our corner of the universe, so having a backup plan to preserve the rich biodiversity that's blossomed here is a forward-thinking concept.
Mary Hagedorn, a cryopreservation pioneer at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and lead author of a new paper in BioScience, has offered that the Moon provides many benefits for tissue storage, as shared by Anthropocene Magazine.
It may not be the most hospitable of environments, but that's part of what makes it ideal for this plan. It's remote enough to be safeguarded from social unrest and naturally cold enough in certain areas to accommodate the -390 degree Fahrenheit temperatures needed to viably store animal tissue.
This would be difficult to accomplish on Earth without lots of electricity, equipment, and liquid nitrogen. Plus, since there's no atmosphere on the Moon, the climate isn't at risk of changing.
They wouldn't be freezing entire animals; instead, they would focus on key cells that could be used to grow a variety of other ones, similar to the way stem cells work.
"Initially, a lunar biorepository would target the most at-risk species on Earth today, but our ultimate goal would be to cryopreserve most species on Earth," Hagedorn shared.
"We hope that by sharing our vision, our group can find additional partners to expand the conversation, discuss threats and opportunities and conduct the necessary research and testing to make this biorepository a reality."
There are similar conservation facilities here on Earth, such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which offers free storage to nations working together toward ensuring the world's future food supply. It contains 250,000 types of wheat, 160,000 types of rice, and 46,000 types of maize, all foods that make up about two-thirds of humanity's food consumption, according to its website.
However, as the report detailed, it was threatened by floods due to thawing permafrost in 2017, revealing certain vulnerabilities for storage amid the changing climate, even in remote areas.
The proposed plan is to start with endangered species first, then expand that to include species essential to biodiversity, as the report detailed. It includes pollinators, primary producers, and landscape-transforming "engineers" like termites, just to name a few.
Still, there are hurdles to overcome before this facility can work. Studies need to be made on microgravity and how it may affect cells, and samples would need to be protected from the high levels of solar radiation.
Hagedorn proposes a "decades-long" effort to explore the potential for this Moon-based repository, starting with testing on the International Space Station before moving on to the surface.
"We aren't saying, 'What if the Earth fails?' If the Earth is biologically destroyed this biorepository won't matter," as Hagedorn shared. "This is meant to help offset natural disasters and, potentially, to augment space travel."
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