Event: Horizons in Biosciences & Informatics Seminar Series (HBISS)
What: A Small Bite for Mankind; Mapping Safe Lunar Sites for Regolith Agriculture
When: Wednesday, July 22nd, 11a PT; 2p ET; 8p CEST; 11:30p IST
Where: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83932296235?pwd=wVk67tN0TcYybhKaXFfv7hKk7e4oGg.1
Who: Borja Barbero Barcenilla, Moon Village Association, Regolith OSDR-AWG Co-Lead; Rachel Rivero, University of Michigan, Plant AWG, NASA NSTGRO Fellow.
Summary:
Regolith-based agriculture could help sustain crews beyond low Earth orbit, but lunar soils may create food-safety risks as well as nutrient limitations. By integrating Apollo sample information, lunar simulant studies, plant uptake data, transcriptomics, lunar orbital maps, and datasets made accessible through NASA JSC and NASA OSDR digitization and curation efforts, this work suggests that crops grown in some lunar materials can accumulate aluminum, iron, and titanium at potentially hazardous levels while remaining deficient in key nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium. When combined with astronauts’ physiological responses to spaceflight, accumulation of these metals has been associated with Parkinson’s-like symptoms, central nervous system dysfunction, and other neurodegenerative risks. A species-specific model for Onyx sorghum identifies lower-risk lunar sites, especially older highland terrains and crater/terra formations rather than mare basalts for regolith agriculture.
Biographies:
Dr. Borja Barbero Barcenilla is a plant space biology researcher with experience in plant growth in regolith , focusing on how extraterrestrial environments affect plant health and food safety. He co-leads the new Regolith AWG and serves as Lunar Science Coordinator at the Moon Village Association, helping connect lunar science, agriculture, and future settlement planning. His work supports the development of safe, sustainable crop production systems for long-duration missions beyond low Earth orbit.
Rachel Rivero is a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan and a NASA Space Technology (NSTGRO) fellow studying plant genomics currently at Kennedy Space Center. Her research aims to characterize the genetic regulation of regeneration in “Mother of Thousands” Kalanchoe succulents and to develop the genomic and regulatory foundations required to study this plant and advance its potential for space applications. Rachel is also a co-lead for the Moon Village Association’s Lunar Agriculture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) working group and the Communications Coordinator for the Plant AWG.
About HBISS:
The purpose of HBISS is to foster interdisciplinary conversation, education, and collaboration. Experts in biosciences and informatics are invited to speak once a month and engage with members of the Open Science Data Repository’s Analysis Working Group (OSDR-AWG) and the public to facilitate discussion of cutting-edge research, techniques, and methodology.
From March 2022 through February 2025, the HBISS series was designed exclusively for an internal NASA audience. Beginning in April 2025, the series was opened to the public and the broader OSDR-AWG community. To stay in the loop, join the AWG.
Questions, or want to be removed from this HBISS listing?
Contact HBISS organizer ryan.t.scott@nasa.gov