Astronauts may soon be able to grow their own food.
Researchers at the University of California Riverside, reported in a recent news release, have genetically altered tomato plants to grow in an ideal size for planting in space, potentially allowing astronauts to grow and eat freshly picked fruits aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The project is led by Robert Jinkerson, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside, who explained the motivation behind the work.
“It’s expensive to send food up to astronauts, so ideally, we want them to grow some of their own food,” Jinkerson said in the release. “Our work is focused on how do we actually grow plants without light and try to reduce and minimize the amount of light,” he added.
In collaboration with Martha Orozco-Cárdenas, director of the Plant Transformation Research Center in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Jinkerson developed what are being called “space tomatoes.” Orozco-Cárdenas used the CRISPR gene-editing system to engineer tiny tomato plants, while Jinkerson modified the genetics to allow the plants to use acetate as an energy source instead of sunlight. This breakthrough could make it easier for astronauts to grow food in space, offering a more sustainable food source for long-term space missions.
