Experts Develop Tiny Tomatoes for Astronauts to Grow in Space

ISAAA September 4, 2024

Researchers at the University of California Riverside genetically altered tomato plants to grow in ideal size for planting in space. With this study, astronauts might be able to plant tomatoes and eat freshly picked fruits at the International Space Station.

"It's expensive to send food up to astronauts, so ideally, we want them to grow some of their own food," said Robert Jinkerson, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside. "Our work is focused on how do we actually grow plants without light and try to reduce and minimize the amount of light," he added.

Together with Martha Orozco-Cárdenas, director of the Plant Transformation Research Center in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Jinkerson developed the ‘space tomatoes'. Orozco-Cárdenas used CRISPR gene editing system to come up with tiny tomato plants, while Jinkerson altered the genetics of the tomato plants use acetate as energy source instead of sunlight.

Read more from UCR.