Scientists successful attempt in growing plants in Moon Soil
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Scientists for the first time have grown seeds in the soil from the moon samples retrieved during NASA missions in 1969 and 1972 – in an achievement that heralds the promise of using earthly plants to support human outposts on other worlds. The researchers used small samples of dust collected to grow a small type of cress. Much to their astonishment, the seeds sprouted after a couple of days.The US researchers said on May 12 that they had planted seeds of a flowering weed known as Arabidopsis thaliana in 12 small thimble-sized containers with each containing a small sample of material that were retrieved during the Apollo missions.The Moon or Lunar soil, also termed as lunar regolith, has sharp edges and a lacks organic material, thus differing extensively from the soil on Earth. It was therefore unsure whether the seeds would germinate in lunar soil. But in two days, they sprouted and grew.Horticultural sciences professor Anna-Lisa Paul, director of the University of Florida Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and co-leader of the study published in the journal Communications Biology said, ““When we first saw that abundance of green sprouts cast over all of the samples, it took our breath away.”
