Water bears can withstand 500 times the amount of radiation that would kill a person. Nearly 60 years ago, one of contemporary science's strangest mysteries started. It all began at a little town on France's south coast. Scientists discovered that even the tiniest organisms could withstand the harsh radiation of space.
Our story's heroes are these animals. Raoul-Michel May collected hundreds of moss piglets from mossy trees in 1963. In France, he worked as a biologist. He placed the little creatures in a dish and used X-rays to zap them. In little dosages, X-rays are quite safe. They penetrate your soft tissues but not your bones, which is why doctors may use them to capture photographs of bones. X-rays, on the other hand, may kill people at very high doses. And it's a painful death, with skin burns, vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms.
May be used up to 500 times the X-ray radiation that would kill a person on the moss piglets. Surprisingly, the majority of the little animals managed to live – at least for a few days. This experiment has been replicated numerous times since then. The critters almost always make it. "We don't fully understand why water bears are so radiation-tolerant," explains Inge mar Jonson (YON-sun). It is not 'natural'.
Jonson is a professor in Kristiansand University at Sweden's. He's been studying moss piglets for 20 years as a scientist. He discovered that they can survive all sorts of radiation, including UV rays, gamma rays, and even high-speed iron atom beams. He claims that the animals' ability to thrive in these settings is not natural. That is, he believes it is unreasonable. It contradicts scientists' understanding of evolution.
All living organisms must adapt to their surroundings. Moss piglets that reside in the cool shadow of an olive grove should only be able to withstand scorching, dry summers and chilly, rainy winters. Despite this, these species can withstand radiation levels millions of times higher than those seen anyplace on our planet! As a result, there's no obvious reason for them to have developed this characteristic.
Water bears may also withstand temperatures as low as –273° Celsius (–459° Fahrenheit). That's 180 degrees Celsius (330 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the coldest temperature ever recorded on the planet. They've also spent ten days in space without any oxygen, circling Earth on the exterior of a spaceship. "It's a wonder why they have such high tolerances," Jonson explains. These circumstances have never existed in nature for water bears.
Why Earth is the toughest place to live,
understanding how moss piglets cope with extremes might aid other species in surviving in hostile situations. Just like us. Indeed, it has the potential to assist humanity in exploring the hazardous environment of space.
One of the most difficult aspects of long-term space flight is figuring out how to generate food. Radiation abounds in space. The magnetic field of our planet protects humans, plants, and animals on Earth. However, radiation levels inside a spaceship would be significantly greater than on Earth. This radiation may interfere with the growth of food crops such as potatoes or spinach on lengthy trips. Plants that produce water bears proteins, on the other hand, may have a defensive advantage.
On September 21, 2020, researchers announced that they have successfully integrated the moss piglet D sup protein gene into tobacco plants. Tobacco is frequently used as a model for other crops, such as food crops. The plants grew faster when they were exposed to DNA-damaging compounds than when they were not. They also demonstrated reduced DNA damage when exposed to X-rays or UV light. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Biotechnology.
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