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With thousands of species facing extinction, scientists are racing to secure the biodiversity of our planet for future generations. Yet unpredictable environmental threats are putting even biorepositories, the facilities that store frozen biological samples, in jeopardy, forcing a solution outside the box… and out of this world.
In July, a group of researchers made a bold pitch to take advantage of the unique location and the consistently low temperature of the moon’s south pole.
In an article published in the journal BioScience, they proposed the construction of a passive lunar biorepository, which would require minimal human involvement and would not depend on generating a supply of electricity.
“Ours is a backup plan,” said Lynne Parenti, a research scientist who is working on the project. “The plants and animals that live on Earth are going extinct faster than we can save them. It is a crisis.”
Other sites already exist to ensure that seeds, or the genetic material of plants and animals, which are going extinct at a rate hundreds of times higher than in the past, are preserved.
For example, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic north of Norway is the most extensive seed storage facility in the world. Svalbard is an example of global commitment to protecting crop diversity, the basis of our world’s food supply.
It was also the inspiration for Parenti and the other researchers promoting the lunar biorepository.
The Svalbard vault is called passive because it requires no power plant to keep the temperature at minus 18 C (minus 0.4 F) — which is ideal for preserving the stored seeds. Instead, the requisite conditions are maintained by exposure to the natural temperature of the surrounding permafrost.
Unfortunately, the warming brought about by climate change threatens the repository’s future functionality — a problem that would never arise on the moon because of its extremely thin atmosphere.
At first, the lunar biorepository would house cryopreserved (deeply frozen) samples of the genetic material of endangered species or, more broadly, species that would be necessary to rebuild ecosystems on Earth.
“Think of it as a museum that you are constantly collecting for and building,” Mary Hagedorn, a research scientist who is working on this program, said.
One problem with collecting and preserving animal samples is that doing so with most wildlife is challenging.
While scientists know how to cryopreserve human reproductive cells, such as sperm and eggs and even embryos, this is not true for all wildlife.
However, scientists have developed a clever work-around, which involves gathering samples of skin cells, which is generally easier. The scientists clipped fins from the starry goby, a reef fish in Hawaii, which they believe can serve as a model species for the project.
Skin contains a type of cell called fibroblasts that can be transformed into other cells, e.g., stem cells, which have the potential characteristics of embryonic or testicular cells. In addition, scientists already know how to cryopreserve fibroblast cells, giving them uniform material to work with and establishing a standardized system.
One of the problems with this method is that the long-term storage of these cells requires a constant temperature of minus 196 C (minus 320.8 F).
Fortunately, both of the moon’s poles have craters that never receive any sunlight and therefore remain at a constant temperature cold enough for long-term storage of the samples.
However, other obstacles remain. It is not only impossible for humans to operate at these low temperatures, but it is also difficult even for robots and other machinery.
Another potential problem is the radiation threatening the viability of the samples during their journey through space and their transfer to their lunar home. Additionally, this decade-long project will not come cheap; the initial fundraising target is in the ballpark of $5 million.
“Even if we get the money, it may take longer to get everybody in agreement,” said Hagedorn. There are, she admits, a broad range of cultural and societal issues to be considered.
The scientists emphasize their commitment to considering the sensibilities of all stakeholders.
In January 2024, Astrobotics, a private space logistics company, launched Peregrine Mission One, which among other initiatives aimed to carry human remains and deposit them on the moon. Representatives of the Navajo Nation asked for the mission to be delayed because, they said, the moon is sacred in their culture and using it as a gravesite would be disrespectful. The company disregarded the Navajo Nation’s plea and went ahead with the mission, which had to be aborted due to technical difficulties.
To avoid an incident like that, Hagedorn foresees a collective process, with open-ended conversations about the relationship of different cultures to the moon.
Since the whole point of the project is to re-create life on Earth, if necessary, all voices should be included, she says: “We need more voices, we need different voices than just scientists and engineers.”
“We envision that the Lunar Biorepository would be governed very much like Svalbard. There will be an international governing body with global partnerships,” said Parenti.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on December 27.
This story was written by a member of our Mentor Apprentice Program (MAP). It gives aspiring journalists an opportunity to hone their craft while covering national and international news under the tutelage of seasoned reporters and editors. You can learn more about the MAP and how you can support our efforts to safeguard the future of journalism here.
