There will be no mass extinction: a bank with genetic material from the Earth is to be created on the Moon

The idea is to use the naturally cold areas of the Moon to preserve the genetic material of threatened species.

Mary Hagedorn, lead author of the study from the Smithsonian National Zoo and the Institute for Conservation Biology, explained that the idea came from a desire to protect species in need of cryopreservation in a passive biorepository similar to the World Seed Vault in Svalbard.

Researchers propose to use the Moon’s permanently shaded regions (PSRs) to create a biorepository. These areas, protected from sunlight by deep craters, are among the coldest places in the solar system with temperatures as low as -196°C.

The process involves cryogenic storage of the samples on Earth, their placement in radiation-protected containers and transportation to the Moon. On site, the containers will be placed in PSRs and buried under two meters of lunar soil.

The project faces numerous challenges, including the difficulty of human and robotic work at extremely low temperatures. An alternative solution could be to use future lunar cement technologies to protect the containers.

Scientists are starting small, focusing on preserving skin samples with fibroblasts from the Starry Goby fish. More than 100 individuals of this species will be used to develop cryopreservation protocols for the lunar biorepository.

In the future, the preserved cells could potentially be used to clone new organisms in the event of species extinction on Earth. Hagedorn emphasizes that this is one of the few projects that uses space to protect and biosecure Earth’s ecosystems.

This concept is described in detail described in the journal BioScience.

Source: Interestingengineering