Identification

Title

Safeguarding Earth's biodiversity by creating a lunar biorepository

Abstract

<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(239, 242, 247);color:rgb(42, 42, 42);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:Merriweather, serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Earth's biodiversity is increasingly threatened and at risk. We propose a passive lunar biorepository for long-term storage of prioritized taxa of live cryopreserved samples to safeguard Earth's biodiversity and to support future space exploration and planet terraforming. Our initial focus will be on cryopreserving animal skin samples with fibroblast cells. An exemplar system has been developed using cryopreserved fish fins from the Starry Goby, <em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(239, 242, 247);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(42, 42, 42);font-family:Merriweather, serif;font-feature-settings:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-optical-sizing:inherit;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-size:15px;font-stretch:inherit;font-variant-alternates:inherit;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-variant-emoji:inherit;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-position:inherit;font-variation-settings:inherit;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:inherit;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Asterropteryx semipunctata<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(239, 242, 247);color:rgb(42, 42, 42);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:Merriweather, serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">. Samples will be expanded into fibroblast cells, recryopreserved, and then tested in an Earth-based laboratory for robust packaging and sensitivity to radiation. Two key factors for this biorepository are the needs to reduce damage from radiation and to maintain the samples near -196° Celsius. Certain lunar sites near the poles may meet these criteria. If possible, further testing would occur on the International Space Station prior to storage on the Moon. To secure a positive shared future, this is an open call to participate in this decades-long program.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7xk8kvn

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

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South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2024-08-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

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Conformity

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name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Institute of Biological Sciences 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact