Chinese scientists plant seeds bred on Tiangong space station
The new colonial movement: Chinese scientists have now planted on Earth some of the 12,000 seeds that were bred on China’s Tiangong space station for six months and brought back to Earth in April.
The seeds, including alfalfa, oats and fungi, were selected by multiple research institutions last year. They were brought back to Earth by the Shenzhou-13 on April 16. Space breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to cosmic radiation and microgravity during a spaceflight mission to mutate seed genes and then send them back to Earth to generate new species.
The goal is to see which seeds survive best in the harsh environment of space, which would thus make them better candidates for transport to other planets for planting.
While some of the results of this research will be published, much will not. China tends to keep what it learns close to the vest.
The new colonial movement: Chinese scientists have now planted on Earth some of the 12,000 seeds that were bred on China’s Tiangong space station for six months and brought back to Earth in April.
The seeds, including alfalfa, oats and fungi, were selected by multiple research institutions last year. They were brought back to Earth by the Shenzhou-13 on April 16. Space breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to cosmic radiation and microgravity during a spaceflight mission to mutate seed genes and then send them back to Earth to generate new species.
The goal is to see which seeds survive best in the harsh environment of space, which would thus make them better candidates for transport to other planets for planting.
While some of the results of this research will be published, much will not. China tends to keep what it learns close to the vest.