Adapting

Synthetic bioengineering manipulate human genomes to survive in space 

Scenario by Niina Hyry, 2021

Radiation is a major problem for Martian people. They are exposed to dangerous amounts of cosmic radiation and UV radiation in space compared to Earth. As people are slowly adapting to this radiation, it is still a big issue and causes health problems and even death.  Bioengineering has one solution to this problem. For many years people have been able to grow spare human parts and organs thanks to bioengineering. Now they have the possibility to protect themselves against radiation.

Many fungi species have been discovered to produce much melanin, which helps them to protect from radiation. The process that helps lichen, algae and fungi species to protect against cosmic and UV rays is called radiosynthesis. Radiosynthesis uses radiation and melanin as a source of energy. After years of exploring genome editing technology, scientists have been able to edit fungi based genes that can be added to human DNA. People are now able to protect themselves against radiation permanently. The DNA edit causes the outer skin layer to become the UV protective layer. After that, they can move on Mars and in deep space with less protective gear.