Plants begin changing gene activity within minutes of spaceflight
In short
- The study is published in the journal npj Microgravity.
- A UF astronaut ran the experiment during Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-26 flight.
- The flight took place on August 29, 2024.
Why the Good News Desk likes this one
The study recorded biological change at the very start of spaceflight, a window that is hard to observe. It was carried out on a short commercial suborbital flight rather than a long orbital mission. The results add to basic knowledge of how living things adjust to space.
From Phys.org
Plants begin responding to spaceflight almost immediately after leaving Earth, according to a new University of Florida study that captured the earliest stages of biological adaptation during a commercial suborbital mission. Published in the journal npj Microgravity, the study reports the results of an experiment conducted by a UF astronaut during Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-26 flight on Aug. 29, 2024.
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For kids
Plants can notice when they go up into space. A scientist from the University of Florida helped test this on a rocket flight in 2024. The plants started changing how their genes work very quickly, within minutes. What do you think plants need to do to survive somewhere new?
