UC San Diego scientists produce medicine using plants in space
Scientists at UC San Diego have figured out how to get plants to make medicine in space, a big deal for future moon and Mars missions, where regular medicines spoil quickly because of cosmic radiation and storage issues.
Right now, more than half the medicines sent to the International Space Station expire within three years.
CPMV enabled plants produce astronaut medicines
Instead of packing tons of extra medicine for long trips, astronauts could use fast-growing plants like black-eyed peas to produce fresh drugs as needed.
The team used a plant virus (CPMV) to help these plants create medicinal particles, then collected the medicine-rich fluid without harming the plants.
They even tested this method under simulated microgravity and found it worked well, sometimes even better under stress.
This could mean safer, more sustainable healthcare for astronauts on long journeys.