With numerous species facing extinction, an international team of researchers led by Mary Hagedorn of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has proposed a unique solution to protect biodiversity: a lunar biorepository. The concept, detailed in BioScience, aims to create a long-lasting storage facility for cryopreserved samples of Earth’s most at-risk animal species by leveraging the Moon’s cold temperatures in its permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the poles, which maintain temperatures consistently below –321 degrees Fahrenheit (–196 degrees Celsius).
The lunar biorepository would start by focusing on cryopreserving animal skin samples with fibroblast cells, vital for regenerating tissues. The research team plans to use samples from the Starry Goby fish for experimentation, with plans to include other species based on the initial results. These fibroblast cells can be developed from the vast samples collected by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).
The process involves cryopreserving the fibroblast samples from the Starry Goby, testing them in Earth-based laboratories for robust packaging and radiation resistance, and further testing them on the International Space Station (ISS) under space conditions. The eventual goal is to store these samples in the lunar biorepository for future preservation.
If a species were to go extinct on Earth, these cryopreserved samples could potentially be used to revive them using advanced biotechnological techniques, such as cloning efforts with pluripotent stem cells. However, while some efforts are underway to resurrect extinct species, no successful attempts have been made so far.
Creating a lunar biorepository comes with several challenges, including developing robust packaging to withstand space travel and long-term storage on the Moon, addressing the effects of radiation on the samples, and establishing an international governance framework for the repository. The authors suggest an oversight model similar to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to address ownership, access, and long-term management of the stored biological materials.
Transporting biomaterials into PSRs and maintaining them at liquid nitrogen temperatures pose logistical challenges, but they are deemed feasible with future lunar missions. Collaborative efforts among nations, agencies, and stakeholders are essential to realize this initiative, especially given the accelerating rate of species extinction due to human activity.
The lunar biorepository not only offers a novel approach to preserving Earth’s biodiversity but also supports future space exploration and potential terraforming efforts. By safeguarding genetic material in a stable environment, this initiative could contribute to saving endangered species and advancing our understanding of cryobiology and space science for future planetary missions.
