When considering human settlements on the Moon, Mars and beyond, much attention is paid to travel times, food and radiation risk.
We will undoubtedly face a harsh environment in deep space, and some thinkers have pointed to genome modification as a way to ensure that humans can tolerate the harsh conditions as they venture further into the solar system.
In January, I was lucky enough to attend a long-awaited debate between Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees and Mars exploration advocate Dr Robert Zubrin. The event at the British Interplanetary Society took up the topic of whether Mars exploration should be human or robotic.
In a recent book called The End of Astronauts, Lord Rees and co-author Donald Goldsmith outline the benefits of exploring the solar system using spacecraft and robotic vehicles, without the expense and risk of sending humans for the journey. Dr Zubrin supports human exploration.
Where there was agreement was on Rees’ advocacy of using gene-editing technology to enable humans to overcome the enormous challenges of becoming an interplanetary species.
Our genome is all the DNA present in our cells. Since 2011, we have been able to easily and precisely edit genomes. First came a molecular tool called Crispr-Cas9, which today can be used in a high school lab at very little cost and has even been used on the International Space Station.
Then came techniques called base and prime editing, through which small changes can be made to the genome of any living organism.
The potential applications of gene editing to allow us to travel further are almost limitless. One of the most problematic risks astronauts will encounter in deep space is a higher dose of radiation, which can wreak havoc with many processes in the body and increase the long-term risk of cancer.
Perhaps, using genome editing, we can insert genes into humans from plants and bacteria that are able to clean up radiation in the event of radioactive waste spills and nuclear leaks.
It sounds like science fiction, but eminent thinkers such as Lord Rees believe that this is the key to our progress throughout the solar system.
Identifying and then introducing genes into humans that slow aging and fight cellular damage could also help.
We can also create crops that resist the effects of exposure to radioactivity since the crews will have to grow their own food. We can also customize medicine to an astronaut’s needs based on their particular genetic makeup.
Imagine a future where the human genome is so well understood that it has become malleable under this new, personalized medicine.
Genes for extremes
Tardigrades are microscopic animals sometimes referred to as “water bears”. Experiments have shown that these tiny creatures can tolerate extreme temperatures, pressures, high radiation and starvation. They can even tolerate the vacuum of space.
Geneticists are eager to understand their genome, and a paper published in Nature attempted to uncover the key genes and proteins that give the miniature creatures this remarkable tolerance to stress.
If we could insert some of the genes involved into crops, could we make them tolerant to higher levels of radiation and environmental stress? It’s worth exploring.
Even more intriguing is whether inserting tardigrade genes into our genome could make us more resilient to harsh conditions in space. Scientists have already shown that human cells in the laboratory developed an increased tolerance to X-ray radiation when tardigrade genes were inserted into them.
Gene transfer from tardigrades is just one speculative example of how we might be able to engineer humans and crops to be better suited for space travel.
We will need a lot more research if scientists are ever to get to this stage. However, in the past, some governments have been keen to enforce strict restrictions on how genome editing is used, as well as on other technologies for introducing genes from one species to another.
Germany and Canada are among the most cautious, but elsewhere restrictions appear to be relaxing.
In November 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced that he had created the first genetically modified babies. He had inserted a gene into the unborn twins that confers resistance to HIV infection.
The scientist was then imprisoned. But he has since been released and allowed to conduct research again.
In the new space race, some countries may go as far as genome editing that other nations, particularly in the West, where restrictions are already tight, may not. Whoever wins would reap huge scientific and economic benefits.
If Rees and other futurists are right, this field has the potential to further our expansion into space. But society will have to come to terms with it.
There is likely to be opposition, due to the deep-seated fear of changing the human species forever. And with basic and primary editing now advancing the precision of targeted gene editing, it’s clear that technology is moving faster than talk.
One country or another is likely to take the step where others pull back from the brink. Only then will we find out how viable these ideas really are.
Until then, we can only speculate with curiosity, and perhaps even excitement.
Sam McKee, Associate Professor and PhD Candidate in Philosophy of Science, Manchester Metropolitan University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.