Plants Can Survive the Radioactive Soils of Chernobyl, Widening Options For Space Farming

By Clay Dillow Posted 03.03.2011 at 4:59 pm 12 Comments

Farming on Mars NASA Ames Research Center

Simply stepping outdoors in the hostile environs of space is a hazardous undertaking for living beings--aside from the lack of gravity and the low- to no-pressure conditions, radiation runs rampant outside of Earth’s protective atmospheric cocoon. As such, space seems like a poor place for farming. But thriving plant life near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine suggests that farming in space may not be so very impossible after all.

Even 25 years after the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the area around the site harbors radioactive soil. But researchers working there have found that oil-rich flax plants can adapt and flourish in that fouled environment with few problems. Exactly how the flax adapted remains unclear, but what is clear is that two generations of flax plants have taken root and thrived there, and that could have big implications for growing plants aboard spacecraft or on other planets at some point in the future.

Researchers from the Slovak Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology and their colleagues planted flax in both radioactive soils near the accident site and in similar but unpolluted soil in the nearby town. They found that the flax that survived in the radioactive soil did indeed undergo some changes, but those changes weren’t genetically drastic.

Just five percent of the 720 plant proteins that were observed changed, indicating that plants may not be as susceptible to radiation as we thought. Moreover, it suggests that with little change to their overall biologies, more plant species might be able to thrive in radioactive environments given the opportunity.

How? Researchers are still sorting out the whys and hows, but Martin Hajduch of the Slovak Academy has an idea: “My favorite speculation is that when life on Earth was evolving, radioactivity was much more present on Earth's surface than is today,” Hajduch told Astrobiology magazine. “And so the plants are somehow 'remembering' it, [which is] what helped them to adapt in Chernobyl's radioactive area.”

Deep in the plant kingdom’s various genomes there could be an old mechanism for coping with higher doses of radiation, meaning plant farming on the moon, Mars, or elsewhere might not require as much radiation shielding as we’ve always thought. If so, scientists then only have to worry about dealing with zero gravity environments, producing enough water for crops, the arability of extraterrestrial soils, and the lack of atmosphere. Sounds simple enough.

[Astrobiology]

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12 Comments

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zaggy123

03/03/11 at 5:16 pm

does this includ fruits and vegatables too?

p.s. first comment

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NOM

03/03/11 at 6:54 pm

So you'd be keen to eat vegetables grown in radioactive soil?

The article state Mr Hajduch's hunch: "My favorite speculation is that when life on Earth was evolving, radioactivity was much more present on Earth's surface than is today".
Look up "Natural nuclear fission reactor" on wikipedia. The Earth was more radioactive, but this was 2 billion years ago.

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pioneer10

03/03/11 at 7:00 pm

@ zaggy123

Yes it does, however some types of fruits and veggies are better suited than others.

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GetRevenge32

03/03/11 at 9:41 pm

How soon until they start planting marijuana?

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Oakspar77777

03/04/11 at 9:59 am

I would think something as simple as cell walls could account for the improvement - every atom inbetween the source of radiation and the DNA is one more proton of defense.

Also, the regenetive nature of plants makes them more resistant to cancerous growths of damaged DNA, meaning that it takes actual cell death on a massive degree to completly kill a plant (remember that you can mow flax down at ground level and it will regrow - I don't know of any animals who fair so well with the lawnmower).

As for safty, you would likely want to avoid plants that pull physical elements from the soil into their growth, and instead, stick with those who build slower based on carbon in the air. So, corn and tomatoes - probably not. Lettus and spinich - absolutely.

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B.V.

03/04/11 at 12:15 pm

Pretty cool.

What percentage of those plants have mutated to the point of thirsting for human blood though? XD

Also... "Even 25 years after the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the area around the site harbors radioactive soil"

No, really? 25 years isn't enough for radioactivity to wane??? NO WAY!

*sarcasm*

Next you'll be telling us it really IS safe to go on a vacation to Chernobyl

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david_forbus

03/04/11 at 7:51 pm

What I want to know is, can people safely eat these plants?

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jeditalian

03/06/11 at 9:47 pm

i thought they were already growing cannabis to clean up the radiation, and then selling the herb-like-fruit to superheroes such as Bluntman & Chronic. Perhaps it was only Hemp. Apparently, the word Bluntman sets off the spam-filter even after solving 2 captchas.

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jeditalian

03/06/11 at 9:51 pm

@ GetRevenge32, missed your comment, but according to http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_10.html They will start planting 'marijuana' in about -13 years. 1998, although you know it was already growing there beforehand.

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NOM

03/07/11 at 9:34 pm

@B.V. "Next you'll be telling us it really IS safe to go on a vacation to Chernobyl"

Google "tours of Chernobyl". Though I'm not saying it's safe.

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B.V.

03/10/11 at 12:26 pm

@NOM,

Indeed that was my joke :D

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BEE HONEY

08/21/11 at 10:53 pm

Hey seriously guys

This may be the beginning of a cancer cure for radiatiion treatment. Flax research. Could probably get a grant for that.

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