>> THE REASON WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
TO STUDY PLANTS IN SPACE
IS THAT PLANTS ARE ABSOLUTELY
THE THINGS THAT WILL ALLOW US
TO TRAVEL PAST THE RESTRICTIONS
OF A PICNIC BASKET, RIGHT?
WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE
TO EXPLORE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM,
EXPLORE OUR WORLD
PAST LOW EARTH ORBIT
UNLESS WE CAN
TAKE PLANTS WITH US,
BECAUSE THAT WILL ENABLE US
TO GROW OUR FOOD,
TO RECYCLE NUTRIENTS,
RECYCLE OUR AIR.
THIS IS WHAT IT'S GONNA TAKE.
WHAT ROB FERL AND I DO
IS WE ENGINEER THE PLANTS
TO BE TOOLS OF EXPLORATION.
WE'VE ENGINEERED THEM
WITH GREEN FLUORESCENT
PROTEIN MOLECULES
THAT ALLOW US TO FOLLOW
HOW PARTICULAR GENES
ARE UTILIZED
IN THE SPACEFLIGHT ENVIRONMENT
VERSUS THE TERRESTRIAL
ENVIRONMENT.
ONE VERY EFFECTIVE WAY
TO TAKE A LOOK AT
THESE ENGINEERED PROTEINS
IS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A TOOL
THAT LOOKS INSIDE THE CELL.
WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK
BY LOOKING AT THE WHOLE PLANT
AND HOW THEY GROW,
EVEN WITH GREEN
FLUORESCENT PROTEINS
TO GET A SORT OF
A BIGGER PICTURE
OF HOW THINGS ARE TURNED ON
AND TURNED OFF,
BUT BEING ABLE TO LOOK
INSIDE THE CELLS
IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL.
AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT,
WE NEEDED A MICROSCOPE.
WE USED THE LIGHT
MISCROSCOPY MODULE
ON THE SPACE STATION,
OR THE L.M.M.
WHAT THAT ENABLED US TO DO
IS TO TAKE A LOOK INSIDE
SPECIFICALLY HOW CERTAIN
SIGNALLING MOLECULES
THAT ARE KNOWN TO BE IMPORTANT
TO GRAVITY SIGNALLING ON EARTH,
TO SEE HOW IT FUNCTIONS
IN THE MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT.
WE LOOKED AT TWO
SIGNALLING PATHWAYS,
OR GENES ASSOCIATED
WITH SIGNALLING PATHWAYS.
ONE WAS FOR OXONS
AND ONE WAS FOR CYTOKININS.
BOTH OXONS AND CYTOKININS
ARE PLANT HORMONES
THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO PLANTS'
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS
THAT THE OXON TYPE
SIGNALLING MOLECULES
SEEM LIKE THEY WERE
PRETTY MUCH UNCHANGED
WHETHER YOU WERE IN
A NO-GRAVITY ENVIRONMENT
OR IN THE TERRESTRIAL
ENVIRONMENT.
WE SAW ESSENTIALLY
THE SAME PATTERNS
OF DISTRIBUTION
IN ROOT TIPS OF OXONS
THAT YOU DO ON EARTH.
HOWEVER, IN THE OTHER HORMONE,
CYTOKININS, WE SAW
THAT YOU DID SEE
A DIFFERENT PATTERN OF THE WAY
CYTOKININS WERE DISTRIBUTED
IN THE GROUND CONTROLS
VERSUS WHAT YOU SEE
IN SPACEFLIGHT.
AND SO WHAT THIS DID IS
THIS ENABLED US TO TAKE A LOOK
AT HOW PLANTS
PHYSIOLOGICALLY ADAPT
TO MICROGRAVITY
AND ALSO WAS
KIND OF SOME INSIGHTS
INTO, WELL, MAYBE HOW
SOME OF THESE THINGS WORK
EVEN IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.
SO WHAT WE HAVE DONE WITH THIS
LITTLE TINY WEED,
ARABADOPSIS THALIANA,
WHICH IS THE--
SORT OF THE WHITE MOUSE
OF THE PLANT WORLD.
IT'S A MODEL ORGANISM.
IT'S ENABLED THEM
TO TELL US MORE
THAN JUST HOW THEY GROW.
IT'S ENABLED US TO TELL US
HOW THEY DO THE SUBSTRATE
OF WHAT MAKES THEM GROW.
AND THAT'S WHAT
THIS GENETIC ENGINEERING
CAN ENABLE US TO DO
MORE SO THAN JUST YOUR NORMAL
GARDEN VARIETY PLANT
THAT YOU SEND UP.