Dr Marta Peirats-Llobet (La Trobe University) is an expert in spatial transcriptomics; a powerful technique capable of mapping gene expression at a cellular level.
Recently featured on New England Biolabs 'NEBinspired' blog, she shared how her work with P4S is contributing to future missions to the Moon.
Through our network of Plants for Space partners, Marta collaborates with Space Lab Technologies, NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration], the KSC [Kennedy Space Center], the University of Colorado Boulder, Purdue University, and Adelaide University on the LEAF (Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora) project.
Her work will play an important role in future Artemis missions as we study Arabidopsis and Brassica Rapa grown on the lunar surface.
"The global aim of [the LEAF] experiment is to be able to compare plants grown on the surface of the moon to plants that will grow on Earth as control, because we want to compare how the high radiation and the low gravity of the moon affect plant growth."
