Mars.
When we travel to the Moon or Mars, every ounce counts. The more we bring, the more fuel is consumed to take us out of reach of Earth’s gravity.
Once we get to Mars, we would stay there for long periods of time. This requires livable space, preferably in buildings that could be deployed on the Martian surface.
One way to dramatically reduce the weight of materials transported to Mars is to grow the buildings. And we could grow them using fungi.
Dr. Lynn Rothschild is a scientist with NASA’s Ames Research Center. Her strength as a scientist is to mix and match diverse scientific fields. To make living on Mars a reality, she integrates aspects of synthetic biology, geology, architecture and more in her research. Myco-architecture focuses on using fungi to create structures for humans.
In order to grow buildings on Mars, we need oxygen and food sources for the fungi. Dr. Rothschild and her team plan to provide those resources using cyanobacteria, which already generate significant amounts of oxygen here on Earth. Since the fungi would be growing once on Mars, the only weight that needs to be transported are the tiny spores the fungi will grow from.
Fungal mycelia.
Fungal mycelia are thin strands of fungi that are similar to plant roots. (What we see more often aboveground are mushrooms, which are reproductive structures.) The mycelia would grow to become walls, furniture and other structures. On Earth, the mycelia can be baked in order to strengthen the materials.
Her research also includes using fungi as a biofilter to concentrate certain metals, as well as creating glues that are incredibly material-specific. For example, a glue that would only bind chitin to chitin, an abundant component of fungi cell walls. The chitin-chitin glue could be used adhere structures or tools together.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is just around the corner on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. Growing up, Dr. Rothschild remembers watching Neil Armstrong stepping on the Moon. She also became fascinated with what she saw under a microscope as a girl. These formative experiences combined with her research experience gained through her Ph.D. eventually led her to be a scientist with NASA.
Not only will her research help humans live on other planets, much of her research has applications here on Earth. Learn more about myco-architecture here.
