ERC Starting Grant · 2024
Physiological and evolutionary responses of cyanobacteria in a sustainable Mars exploration program
The world’s major space agencies share a goal of sending humans to Mars within the next few decades. A sustainable human presence there, akin to today’s presence in Antarctica, could generate paradigm-shifting knowledge at an unprecedented pace. One major challenge lies in providing the food, oxygen and other necessary consumables: these cannot be shipped from the Earth over the long term. They should instead be produced on site and for this, Nostocaceae cyanobacteria can be instrumental: fed with materials available in the Martian ground and atmosphere, they could provide feedstock for a range of bioprocesses which, in turn, could produce a wide range of consumables. However, fundamental…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.