Important breakthroughs in synthetic biology can make expeditions to the moon and Mars possible, according to scientists.

Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, also known as Berkeley Lab, suggest that microbial-based medicine leads to better treatments for epidemic diseases such as malaria and can surprisingly provide reliable fuel for spaceflights.

Like Us on Facebook

Adam Arkin, director of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, said synthetic biology offers to make extraterrestrial travel more practical and efficient. More importantly, it can become a renewable source of fuel once explorers reach their destination.

Arkin also said that during a spaceflight, this ability to save on fuel and other energy sources can greatly conserve utilities while providing small, regulated amounts of needed materials. These materials plus renewable and even nutritional food and medicine can save on costs and increase astronaut wellness and health in the long run.

When astronauts are on an extraterrestrial base, synthetic biology can even be more effective when it comes to catalytic activities involving diverse organisms.

Arkin and his colleagues propose this solution since there's high risk and millions of dollars involved in spaceflights. Microbial-based fuel generation can save up to 56 percent of the energy used in a spaceflight.

It can also save on cargo space by 38 percent. Synthetic biology can also provide biotic processes that produce food on site and conserve significant energy on Mars.

In the event the crew can't obtain food from cargo refills from Earth, the living microbial systems on board can replenish food resources and pharmaceutical supplies.

This microbial system on an extraterrestrial site can serve as a launch pad for new forms of agriculture on alien planets.

TagsHow Synthetic Biology Can Make Mars Explorations Possible, synthetic biology, manned mars missions, Mars, mars exploration, space exploration