• Question: do you think we will ever be able to sustain life on the moon using GM crops that can grow in the harsh conditions there?

    Asked by The Legit Administrator to Anne on 7 Oct 2015.
    • Photo: Anne Visscher

      Anne Visscher answered on 7 Oct 2015:


      Hi The Legit Administrator,

      I don’t think it would be necessary to use GM crops on the moon: for humans to survive on the moon for long periods of time they would need to build a life support system. Inside that system, the conditions would not be harsh. Even if they use Lunar soil (soil from the moon) the plants would probably still be fine, because it looks like the lunar soil does not have a lot of elements in it that could be toxic to the plants. The best way to find out though would be to go to the moon, pick up some lunar soil, bring it back down to Earth, plant seeds in it and see how the plants grow. Only if all known crops would suffer (which I doubt they will!) would you need to start thinking about breeding or GM solutions.

      Anne

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