Expecting space food
Collected by Lily



不久的将来, 可能会有一批"太空水稻"、"太空玉米"、"太空青椒"、"太空番茄"等新产品摆上我们的餐桌. 这些太空产品是如何培育的? 它们的安全性是否像转基因食品一样受到质疑?

Have you ever thought of "space food" reaching our dinner tables in the near future? The first Chinese "seed satellite," to be launched during the second half of 2006 will make it a reality. The "space seeds," after returning from orbit and grown into space eggplant, space corn, and other astro-vegetables will impart more variety to our dishes.

About 250-300 kilograms of seeds, including wheat, vegetables, fruit and other trees will be carried into space by the satellite. Specialists will closely monitor moisture and temperature so as to create suitable conditions when the seeds are brought back from the space capsule.

America, Russia, and China are the only countries that have successfully carried seeds into space and then propagated them. It's also the first time for China to use a recoverable satellite especially built for propagation. Currently, more than 20 Chinese provinces and autonomous regions have planted space tomatoes, cucumbers, wheat, and other species. Due to controversy about the safety of transgenic food, many people are skeptical about the benefits of space foods. According to specialists however, all the products propagated from space technology are of natural genes rather than artificially created ones, so consumers can rest assured about their safety.



The "seed satellite" project consists of satellite research and development, launch and recovery, seed breeding, mechanical research and simulation tests. For extra-terrestial seed breeding, seeds and animalcule are sent into space, about 200 to 400 km away from the earth, in a recoverable space vehicle and exposed to cosmic radiation, micro-gravity, a vacuum, alternating magnetic fields, and other special factors to cause useful mutations that are hard to obtain on Earth.

After selecting and cultivating seeds and trial plants, scientists will be able to cultivate high-yield and high-quality plant variants. The scientists hope to cultivate new plant variants with outstanding properties by utilizing the mature, induced-mutation-breeding technologies of the country. The recoverable "seed satellite" is designed to return to the earth after the launch, leaving its "micro-gravity experiment system" in orbit as an "unmanned space lab."

The theory is that radiation exposure in space will induce genetic mutations in the seeds, some of which could have beneficial effects. But US researchers who have experimented on seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to justify the cost. Instead they see the Chinese launch as a publicity stunt. Chinese researchers have previously reported sowing over 600,000 hectares of land with space-exposed seeds with remarkable results. For example, they say pimiento trees grown from such seeds produce more pimientos which taste sweeter, have more vitamins, are more resistant to disease and have a longer shelf life.



They have also sent rice, cotton, vegetable oil seeds, fruits, and vegetables into space. But none of this research has appeared in scientific journals where it could be peer reviewed."Sending seeds into space and keeping them exposed to radiation is a meaningful study because we don't know how long they can endure before damage is apparent," said Karl Hasenstein, a biologist with the University of Louisiana (USA), who had a flax experiment on the shuttle Columbia's last flight in 2003.

But some scientists are not convinced that space radiation can induce genetic mutations. They suggest there is no strong evidence that particular species will be mutated in space, and if there is any mutation, the mutagenic mechanisms are not well understood.A research group submitted a proposal to NASA four years ago to fly a seed experiment similar to China's on the exterior of the International Space Station but the proposal was rejected. In the past, NASA has flown seeds into space and distributed them to school children to see whether Earth seeds or space seeds grow better. Companies such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International, which is owned by chemical giant Dupont, have also decided that sending massive quantities of seeds into space is not profitable. They flew eight soybean seeds to the International Space Station in 2002. Seven of those grew into soybean plants in space and produced 87 new seeds.

When scientists analysed the space seeds, they found they had a slightly higher level of carbohydrates and a little less oil than the control seeds, but these figures were all within normal ranges. So far, the scientists have not detected any evidence that any of those seeds had changed genetically.

Information board

Two "Science Summer" camps are waiting for Xiamen students to participate:
1. Shanghai -"Oriental Green Canoe Science Summer Camp"( 上海东方绿舟科技夏令营) Starting on July 9, campers will visit the biggest Chinese juvenile outdoor activities camp and Qinshan Nuclear Power Station.
2. Xiamen-"Action makes me happy-scientific experience summer camp"(我动手 我快乐--科技体验夏令营) Every week during July and August, campers will visit Huoshaoyu Juvenile Science & Technology Museum and Bridge Museum.
Discover more details at www.xmstm.com.

Vocabulary
mutation 变异
ploy 策略
pimiento 辣椒
animalcule 微生物
flax 亚麻
genome 基因组
fibroblast 纤维原细胞
promoter 助催化剂

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