Fungi to save astronauts from ionizing space radiations

-Anuska Sen, Amity University Kolkata

During space missions, when astronauts cross the magnetosphere layer of the Earth, they are exposed to the harmful ionizing space radiations. Although the stainless steel shields are potent enough to save them but these are in no way economical and handy.

Researcher G.K. Shunk and the group have come up with an effective solution for this. They have taken advantage of the capability of the self-replicating fungi, Cladosporium sphaerospermum to survive in the high radiation conditions in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. These fungi perform “radiosynthesis” where they convert gamma rays to chemical energy, thus negating the ill-effects of these radiations. The experiment further suggests that a layer of this fungus, approximately 21cm thickness would be sufficient enough to nullify the amount of radiation emitted by the surface of Mars annually.

Thus, this approach is quite an interesting and convincing one to save the astronauts from ionizing space radiations.

This article has been published in bioRxiv

Source: A Self-Replicating Radiation-Shield for Human Deep-Space Exploration: Radiotrophic Fungi can Attenuate Ionizing Radiation aboard the International Space Station. Shunk G.K., Gomez X.R., Averesch N.J.H.bioRxiv 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.16.205534