There are possibly dormant tardigrades on the Moon, and soon, there might be cells from many more creatures. Of all the living things on Earth, the first in line for a lunar ‘Noah’s Ark‘ or biorepository are fishes, a freshwater Zebrafish, and a marine Starry Goby. Fish are probably not the animals you’d think of for boarding the Ark, much less on the Moon. Yet that’s how it’s working out in this real-life tale.
You’ve probably heard that scientists have been working on plans for a sort of Noah’s Ark of preserved specimens on the Moon. Why? Global biodiversity is rapidly declining at such a rate that the Smithsonian National Zoo has identified the need to save biological specimens as “crucial.”
“With global biodiversity rapidly declining, the need to preserve and conserve biological specimens is crucial. The Smithsonian Institution has been at the forefront of biological specimen preservation since its inception, and the specimens that the Smithsonian houses continue to become increasingly valuable. As technology advances, the way specimens are collected and kept is improving,” they shared.
Successfully cryopreserving the Starry Goby’s cells could lead to doing the same thing with other fishes and then vertebrates.
“Successful cryopreservation of the spermatogonial testicular cells of this model fish species will establish a method that may be extended to other fishes and vertebrates,” states a 2018 study by the Zoo’s top scientists.
Why Do Scientists Want to Send Fishes To the Moon?
Mary Hagedorn, a senior research scientist with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, explained why scientists have their sights on the Moon for a lunar biorepository.
“There’s no place on Earth cold enough to do it,” Hagedorn explained to MSN.
The expert in cryopreservation says preserving animal cells works better at temperatures colder than found on Earth. But before they can launch cryopreserved Starry Goby samples to the Moon, they will first test them at the Zoo in “space-like conditions.” After many years, they’ll go to the ISS space station and return to Earth again for testing. Only then will they be ready for a future lunar ‘Ark.’
Similar research with freeze-dried mouse sperm on the International Space Station indicates it might remain viable for over 200 years despite harm from damaging cosmic radiation.
And efforts to establish a base on the Moon could happen faster than we think, with NASA saying there could be a lunar base with a levitating railway system as soon as the 2030s.
Preserving Biodiversity ASAP
Mary Hagedorn talks about using new cryopreservation techniques to preserve struggling coral species below from Straight Arrow News:
“Given that climate change is causing this issue and we don’t have as much time as we would really like, this actually is a very good solution,” Hagedorn said. “I think we stand a very good chance in the next five years of capturing as much of the diversity as we can before certain ecosystems collapse in the coral world.”
Video by Straight Arrow News:
The First Fishes On the Ark
If you’ve kept aquariums, you’re probably familiar with the tiny striped Zebrafish (Danio rerio). They’re among the first species to have been genetically engineered with jellyfish genes that make them glow. But they’re also a widely used model species in human health research.
“Zebrafish has been used since the 1970s to study the development of vertebrates,” says Michael Aranda. (see video below). “Like all fish, their genomes are similar the human genome mainly because we share a common ancestor.”
Video by SciShow about Zebrafish:
And the other fish is less well known, the Starry Goby, (Asterropteryx semipunctata), a tiny reef fish that is widespread across the world. These peaceful fish can be captive-bred in aquariums without the need for collection on reefs. However, the Smithsonian National Zoo chose these fish as an “ecologically important” member of one of the largest families of bony fishes, the Gobiidae.
Video showing the Starry Gobies by Pacific East Aquaculture:
Protecting Fishes and Other Animals on Earth First
Of course, it’s a last resort to bring species back from extinction from a base on the Moon. And who would be around to travel to the Moon if major ecosystems collapse, anyway? Instead, we could focus efforts on protecting species on Earth. So says a man named Noah with a Twitter(X) handle of @Noah_Ark_757:
“I think we really need to focus on protecting more of the natural world, so we don’t lose species in the first place,” said Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Noah appeared with the BBC in 2021 when the US sadly declared 23 species extinct.
“There needs to be more funding towards endangered species in the US and everywhere else, too,” Greenwald said. “The US spends a paltry amount of money on endangered species, despite the fact that it’s a very serious problem.”
Despite the crisis, Greenwald remained hopeful that people would do more to protect the natural world before it’s too late.
“There’s a growing awareness that extinction is a growing problem. I remain hopeful that we will do more to protect nature which is what needs to happen to save species and also to address climate change,” Greenwald said.
Video by the BBC about the extinction crisis:
Featured image: The Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctata, via Wikipedia.