Turkish scientists to grow plants in space
As the countdown to Türkiye's first manned space mission continues, details of the experiments to be carried out within the scope of the mission are coming to light. Turkish researchers say they will genetically intervene in plants under space conditions and that this will be a 'groundbreaking' study.
In the plant breeding project to be carried out during Türkiye's first manned space mission, genetic intervention will be made to plants in the space environment and the efficiency of this intervention will be observed. During the space journey, which will take place on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye, the space traveler will perform 13 different experiments prepared by universities and research institutions.
One of the experiments determined by the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and TUBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute will be a study titled "Investigation of CRISPR Gene Editing Efficiency in Plants Under Microgravity".
The project aims to investigate the effectiveness of the CRISPR technique, one of the modern gene editing techniques of molecular biology, on plants in microgravity, and to test whether gene transfer and genetic intervention can be carried out in space.
Source: Anadolu Agency
