UF researchers will launch seeds into space to prepare for the future of space travel and Earths changing environment Friday.

The researchers will be conduct- ing the first experiment on plants epigenetics, or how the environment in space modifies plants DNA, said Collin LeFrois, a second-year UF doctoral student working with the researchers. Studying plants in space will help researchers understand how they grow while Earths environment changes.

The important thing is that this is kind of the first experiment of its kind, LeFrois said. No one has really looked at epigenetics in space-flight in any system.

Once the seeds of the arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family, reach the International Space Station, astronauts will plant them in a growth hardware machine and take photos

of their growth for 11 days. Then, the plants will return to Earth to be studied at the UF Space Plants Lab, said Anna-Lisa Paul, the co-principal investigator with the lab.

UF researchers have sent plants into space six other times, Paul said. Studying plants reactions to space is important because as carbon dioxide levels and pollutants increase on Earth, it becomes more stressful for plants to grow, she said.

Paul said she knows humans arent going to be on Earth forever.

Even if it means short exploration trips to Mars or to the moon, we are going to need to bring plants with us. Its what we do, she said.

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UF researchers to send plants to the International Space Station - The Independent Florida Alligator