60 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2018 That’s where Lewis Feldman, a professor of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Magnitude’s university advisor, stepped in. He recommended starting the experiment with Arabidopsis thaliana. “Arabidopsis is from the mustard weed family,” says Feldman. “It doesn’t have many special needs for growing. The problem while working with plants is research needs to be perfectly timed, and Arabidopsis has a rapid lifecycle — around 40 to 50 days. Arabidopsis also has a well-known genome sequence and many of its genes have been identified and there are several mutants avail- able to use.” “We really want students to ask questions,” Tagami says. “What’s required for an astronaut’s nutrition? How do plants grow differently in micro- gravity? Are different genes being expressed that may result in the discovery of a saline-tolerant capabilities or perhaps higher resistance to pests? We’ve introduced this program into middle and high schools in more than a dozen states so young people can begin thinking about future careers and their role. Through projects like ExoLab they can get excited about STEM education again.” Not only does the ExoLab allow students to grow their own Arabidopsis plant in their own classroom, the device also receives data from the experiments on the ISS for the students to com- pare their work to the experiment in space. The ExoLab on the ISS measures ambient conditions such as temperature, humidity and carbon diox- ide levels. It also takes an image of the plant every hour, which allows students to observe differences between their classroom plant and the plant in space. “While the opportunity to grow plants in space might not let us learn anything new, it will definitely engage students,” says Feldman. “Right now, a lot of college students aren’t used to making their own observations. The ExoLab allows students to have data sent directly to their classroom, and they have to work with it and draw their own conclusions.” However, there are a few problems to run into. “The conditions in the ISS are tolerable for astronauts, but they aren’t the best conditions for plant growth,” says Feldman. “Sometimes, the experiment fails because it’s too hot or there isn’t enough water.” In response, Feldman believes there should be better standards and conditions to allow their plants to grow well while they live on the ISS. “When you talk to astronauts, having a plant makes a huge difference to them,” he says. “You think about plants in a different way when you’re alone with just machines, and one day, they’ll need better conditions in order to grow their own food for longer missions — especially if there’s going to be a mission to Mars.” However, the projects don’t end here. Tagami and his team sent four different plants to the ISS aboard a SpaceX resupply mission this summer. amaranth, chard, mizuna, and purslane were the candidates for this flight, and a follow up launch is already in the works where teachers and students will lend a hand determining what to grow next. Whatever’s next, Tagami and Feldman both hold one hope: that students will engage with the curriculum and look at STEM education in a new way. With this project, Magnitude is inspiring the next generation of biologists, geneticists and plant breeders to challenge themselves by relying on their own eyes and observations. SW FUN FACTS ABOUT THE ISS: The ISS flies 250 miles above the planet and travels more than 17,500 miles an hour. It is larger than a football field and has had astronauts living aboard and doing research for nearly two decades. In a constant free fall, gravity is almost non-existent while aboard the ISS. Ted Tagami: serves as CEO and founder of Magnitude.io. “We really want students to ask questions ... Through projects like ExoLab, they can get excited about STEM education again.” — Ted Tagami