While lots of research has been conducted on how being in space affects plant biology, no research had ever been done on exactly what the trip up into space does to a plant and its genes.
That is, until Thursday, Aug. 29 when UF Space Biologist, Dr. Rob Ferl, loaded himself and some small tubes with plants in them that are specially designed to allow him to freeze their genes in place at specific times — which he did at certain points of the flight on the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
This process will allow him and his research team to see exactly how that transit up into space, and then back down again, causes the plants to turn certain genes on or off to adapt to that voyage.
The research was funded by a grant from NASA’s Flight Opportunities program and the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division. The launch makes Dr. Ferl the first person to fly a NASA-supported researcher-tended suborbital flight.
We talked with him just a few hours after he returned to Earth. This episode originally aired on Sept. 3, 2024.
Guest:
Dr. Rob Ferl, distinguished professor and director of the Astraeus Space Institute at University of Florida, and co-director of the UF Space Plants Lab.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.