'Glow-in-the-Dark' Plants May Grow in Martian Soil
(From the July/August 2001 issue of StarDate magazine)
While one spacecraft cruises toward an October arrival at Mars, scientists are planning as many as five more American missions to the planet in this decade, including one that may try to grow genetically engineered plants in the Martian soil.
Mars Odyssey successfully deployed its main radio antenna in early May, a month after its April 7 launch. It is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars in late October, then spend a full Martian year looking for the chemical signature of water-created minerals, studying the processes that carved channels and other geological features, and “sniffing” for evidence that water is frozen in the Martian soil.
A team of biologists hopes that a Mars lander scheduled for launch in 2007 will use Martian soil to grow genetically altered mustard plants. As the seeds grow they will emit a fluorescent glow, which will reveal information about the soil’s composition.
University of Florida biologists say they will insert “reporter genes” harvested from other organisms into the Arabidopsis mustard plant. Each reporter gene will cause the plants to glow a specific color in reaction to different environmental stresses. A gene from a jellyfish, for example, will cause the plant to turn blue if the soil contains high levels of peroxides.
The seeds could fly aboard a “smart lander” that NASA is developing for launch in 2007. It could roam several miles and dig below the surface in search of organic materials. The Viking landers of the 1970s found that solar ultraviolet energy sterilizes the planet’s surface.
The lander could scoop soil into a small greenhouse, add fertilizer and other soil conditioners, then plant the mustard seeds. The plants should grow to maturity in about a month.
Florida biologists say the experiment could be the first step toward “terraforming” Mars — using genetically engineered plants and other means to transform the cold, dry planet into a more Earth-like world. — Damond Benningfield
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