Scientists plan to build a "warehouse" on the moon to preserve the "spark" of life

At a time when Earth's biodiversity is increasingly threatened, a group of scientists have proposed a bold idea - to build a biological sample bank on the moon to preserve live frozen samples of endangered species on Earth for a long time. This idea sounds like a plot in a science fiction novel, but it is gradually becoming a realistic topic for scientists to explore.

Why the Moon?

Although biological sample banks on Earth protect biodiversity to a certain extent, they require continuous human management, electricity supply and liquid nitrogen supply, which makes them vulnerable to natural disasters and political turmoil. The moon, especially the polar regions of the moon, provides a natural and stable low-temperature environment. In these areas, the temperature is stable at around -196 degrees Celsius all year round, which provides ideal conditions for long-term preservation of biological samples.

The Challenges of a Lunar Biobank

However, this grand plan faces many challenges. First, scientists need to develop sturdy packaging that can withstand the harsh environment of space to protect the samples from damage during long-term space travel. Second, the extreme temperature changes on the lunar surface, especially the high temperature of 100 degrees Celsius that can reach during the lunar day (equivalent to 14 days on Earth), pose a threat to the preservation of samples. In addition, the long-term effects of the moon's microgravity environment on cells are still unclear.

Scientists have already started taking action

Scientists have already begun to address these issues. They chose a fish called the starfish as a sample, which lives in symbiosis with corals and has important ecological value. By freezing and preserving the skin samples of the starfish and expanding them into fibroblasts, scientists plan to conduct a series of tests on Earth to ensure that these cells can survive the extreme conditions of the moon. In addition, scientists also plan to collect about 100,000 samples each year from 81 freshwater and terrestrial field sites, including tissue samples of multiple biological taxa.

This is a long-term project that will take decades to achieve, but scientists expect to gradually advance this ambitious goal by expanding the base of partners, conducting tests on the International Space Station, and creating samples.

The idea of ​​a lunar biobank is not only an innovation in biodiversity conservation, but also an investment in humanity's future exploration of the universe. It reminds us that in the face of the dual challenges of global climate change and biodiversity loss, we need to take unprecedented measures to protect our precious natural resources. By preserving the "spark" of life on the moon, we not only provide a safe backup for biodiversity on Earth, but also make future space exploration and planetary terraforming possible.

References: Mary Hagedorn, Lynne R Parenti, Robert A Craddock, Pierre Comizzoli, Paula Mabee, Bonnie Meinke, Susan M Wolf, John C Bischof, Rebecca D Sandlin, Shannon N Tessier, Mehmet Toner, Safeguarding Earth's biodiversity by creating a lunar biorepository, BioScience, 2024;, biae058.