Could salads in space be dangerous?

A team in Delaware made a troubling discovery.

Scientists have been testing how plants react in space. Especially around pathogens.

Now plants take in the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we breathe out and convert it into the oxygen (O₂) that we breathe in.

That happens on the underside of the leaves at little openings called stomata- tiny ‘pores’ that open and close.

They’re also how the plant defends itself against threats in the environment.

During tests the plants were put in a simulated microgravity situation. Scientists swiped various Salmonella and Bacillus variations on the leaves.

And instead of protecting themselves against the threats, the pores stayed open.

Why is that an issue?

Infected plants means infected astronauts who eat them.

Our options

I suspect there are 3 ways to handle this issue:

1. Genetically modify the plants to respond correctly in low gravity. Personally I’m not a fan of this option. There’s always the option of unforeseen side effects.

2. Varieties of edible plants can be bred in lower gravity until they’ve evolved better defence systems. This would definitely take some time.

or

3. The ‘garden’ module in future space stations will need to be wide enough to rotate and allow centrifugal force create an artificial gravity for the plants.

Think of the recreation lounge in film, The Martian, rotating so that the crew can walk around.

That last option would be the ‘simplest’ but we’ll need much bigger ships

The scientists at the university presented the option of sterilising the seeds. But they later said that this wouldn’t protect against microbes present in the station environment.

To be determined…

This is one we need to solve quickly. 

Because we don’t have the storage capacity for astronauts to bring enough prepared food for trips that last years- not months. And we’re not yet to the point where we can bring livestock on board to feed the crew.

What do you think we should do?

P.S. Here’s the study they performed at the University of Delaware.