Inside The Lab Growing Mutant Bacteria To Terraform Earth
Scientists in Barcelona are experimenting with gene-edited bacteria to help restore arid soil and combat desertification. By subjecting microbes to extreme environmental stress, researchers hope to create organisms capable of terraforming inhospitable landscapes.
Why it matters
Innovative biotechnology solutions are increasingly necessary to address the impacts of climate change on global food security and land viability.
Increasing desertification now means large parts of Earth are becoming inhospitable. Can gene-edited bacteria save our planet from drying out?
Matthew Ponsford is a London-based writer and researcher.
BARCELONA, Spain — The microbes have assembled themselves into the rough shape of an open hand, reaching out from fluid at the bottom of the bottle. A dozen such containers sit side by side in the beachfront Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, each containing translucent, moss-colored filaments that cling to the glass. But I’m stuck staring at this one sample that has built something so solid-looking out of these weightless strands — its thick wrist supporting an upturned palm that dissolves, where the fingers should be, into curls of soft hair.
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