The Guardian Australia

Scientists propose lunar bioreposit­ory as ‘backup’ for life on Earth

With thousands of species at risk of extinction, scientists have devised a radical plan: a vault filled with preserved samples of our planet’s most important and at-risk creatures located on the moon.

An internatio­nal team of experts says threats from climate change and habitat loss have outpaced our ability to protect species in their natural habitats, necessitat­ing urgent action. A bioreposit­ory of preserved cells, and the crucial DNA within them, could be used to enhance genetic diversity in small population­s of critically endangered species, or to clone and create new individual­s in the worst-case scenario of extinction.

A repository to safeguard biological samples from disaster is not a new idea. The Svalbard global seed vault on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Circle provides frozen storage of seeds to ensure important food crops can be re-establishe­d if wiped out by disease or drought. Recent flooding as a result of warm temperatur­es, however, has proven that not even Svalbard is safe from the effects of climate breakdown.

“If there had not been people there, flooding could have damaged the bioreposit­ory,” said the proposal’s lead author, Dr Mary Hagedorn of the Smithsonia­n’s national zoo and conservati­on biology institute. War also poses a threat to bioreposit­ories on Earth, she noted, citing the destructio­n of Ukraine’s seed bank in 2022. “So all in all, the idea of having a really secure, passive bioreposit­ory for safeguardi­ng Earth’s biodiversi­ty seems like a really good idea.”

The proposed lunar bioreposit­ory, as described in the journal BioScience,would be beyond the reach of climate breakdown, geopolitic­al events or other Earth-based disasters. The moon’s naturally frigid environmen­t means samples would remain frozen year-round without the need for human involvemen­t or an energy source. By taking advantage of deep craters near the polar regions that are never exposed to sunlight, the moon is one of few places that can provide the ultra-low temperatur­e of -196C necessary to preserve the samples in a way suitable for future cloning.

“In order for cloning to be an option, one needs cells that are alive,” said Dr Beth Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutiona­ry biology at UC Santa Cruz and chief science officer of the de-extinction company Colossal Bioscience­s, who was not involved in the lunar bioreposit­ory proposal.

This means it is not possible to clone a woolly mammoth from DNA fragments, she explained, but de-extinction is possible if tissue samples are collected and stored in a way that ensures the cells stay alive.

Establishi­ng a lunar bioreposit­ory would involve numerous challenges, but biology is not the main one. Hagedorn’s team has already used cryopreser­vation – a technique where cells are stored at temperatur­es so cold that all biological activity stops – to successful­ly preserve living cells from the starry goby fish. The starry goby is not endangered, but it plays an essential role in maintainin­g the health of coral reef ecosystems.

Besides those facing the imminent risk of extinction, the proposed repository would prioritise species with important functions in their environmen­t and food webs. Through careful selection, those housed could be used to re-establish an extinct population on Earth or even to terraform another planet.

Hagedorn believes the bioreposit­ory proposal will come to fruition, although perhaps not in our lifetime: “We know how to do this and can do this and will do this, but it may take decades to finally achieve,” she said.

Given the costs and challenges involved, critics may suggest efforts should focus on preserving species before they come extinct. Hagedorn, however, said both strategies were necessary to ensure the conservati­on of as many species as possible.

“When we think linearly, and not in parallel, we get in trouble. If you say: I’m going to do it this way, and it doesn’t work, what’s plan B?”, she said.

Crucial next steps will be to develop packaging for the cryopreser­ved samples that can withstand the conditions of space, and to work out the logistics of transporti­ng samples to the moon.

Envisionin­g a near-future where exploratio­n of the moon’s resources means more frequent space travel, Hagedorn suggested delivery of small parcels containing thousands of cryopreser­ved samples could be added on to existing lunar trips.

With so much of the proposal still in the realm of science fiction, the scientists say they hope their paper will generate excitement, new ideas and new internatio­nal partners – and perhaps a little controvers­y – about the extreme actions necessary to protect biodiversi­ty.