On June 3, 2021, botanist Simon Gilroy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison launched cotton seeds including genetically modified ones to the International Space Station (ISS) on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Gilroy and his team will study cotton seedlings grown on the ISS to better understand cotton growth. This is the first time that cotton will be grown in space.
Gilroy’s team will compare cotton grown in space and on Earth to try to understand how the important crop’s root system grows under the unique stresses of zero gravity.
For this experiment, two types of cotton will be sent to the ISS -regular cotton, and cotton that is genetically engineered to produce a protein that, on Earth, makes cotton more resilient to a big spectrum of stresses. That protein on Earth is switched on under low-oxygen environments
For more details, read the news article in the University of Wisconsin-Madison News, or follow SpaceX Cargo Mission on NASA’s website.
Source: Crop Biotech Update
