New findings indicate gene-edited rice might survive in Martian soil

APRIL 26, 2023
By University of Arkansas

Andy Weir's bestselling 2011 book, "The Martian," features botanist Mark Watney's efforts to grow food on Mars after he becomes stranded there. While Watney's initial efforts focus on growing potatoes, new research presented at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference by a team of interdisciplinary researchers from the U of A suggests future Martian botanists like Watney may have a better option: growing rice.

As outlined in the team's abstract, "Rice Can Grow and Survive in Martian Regolith with Challenges That Could be Overcome Through Control of Stress-Related Genes," one of the biggest challenges to growing food on Mars is the presence of perchlorate salts, which have been detected in the planet's soil and are generally considered to be toxic for plants.

The team was able to simulate Martian soil using basaltic rich soil mined from the Mojave Desert, called the Mojave Mars Simulant, or MMS, which was developed by scientists from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The teams then grew three varieties of rice, including one wild-type and two gene-edited lines with genetic mutations that better enable them to respond to stress, such as drought, sugar starvation or salinity. These varieties were grown in the MMS, as well as a regular potted mix and a hybrid of the two. While plants were able to grow in the Martian simulant, they were not as developed as those grown in the potting soil and hybrid mix. Replacing just a quarter of the Martian simulant with potting soil resulted in improved development.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-gene-edited-rice-survive-martian-soil.html