UF Researchers Aim to One Day Farm on Mars
UF researchers are playing a part in the future of space agriculture. One of the co-directors of the UF Space Plants Lab said all the research they do has one main goal, to one day grow plants on Mars.
Anna-Lisa Paul is the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research. She is working with a team of researchers to learn how plants respond to the environment in space. “We need plants if we want to be more than just tourists in space,” said Paul.
She said the key to understanding how plants change in different environments is to monitor how their genes change. “What we’re trying to do is see how we can understand how to make better adapted, better useful plants in a spaceflight environment, and an exploration environment like going to the moon and Mars.”
Learn more about UF Researchers Aim to One Day Farm on Mars.