Mumbai: Amity University’s Spinach Callus Sent Via ISRO’s SpaDeX Mission Shows Growth In Space, Marking Key Milestone For Astrobiology Research

Mumbai: The spinach callus sent to space through Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s SpaDeX Mission, has achieved significant milestone as the plant cell has recorded growth in space. The first ever biological payload sent into space by Amity University Mumbai has shown a ray of hope for India’s mission to study the possibility of plant growth in space.

On December 30, ISRO launched its SpaDeX Mission in a bid to become the fourth country in the world to bring together and join two aircraft in space. The mission, majorly known for its docking objective, has also carried multiple biological payloads including spinach, cowpea seeds and gut bacteria to study the possibility of food and nutrition for astronauts in space.

After the cowpea seeds sent into space sprouted leaves showing positive results, the spinach callus sent into space has also shown positive results. Amity University Mumbai’s Amity Plant Experimental Module in Space (APEMS), which has carried out the experiment and is monitoring the callus on real-time basis, has confirmed the growth of the plant callus.

The payload is set on orbit at 350km from the earth’s surface and is orbiting at a speed of 28,800kmph, performing 16 orbits per day. APEMS has confirmed that the data received were promising and the health of the payload is good. All the parameters analysed such as carbon dioxide, humidity, internal lighting of the payload were assessed to be working well.

The duration of the mission is 21 days and the experiment aims to record the continuous growth of plant callus within this duration. APEMS is also conducting parallel experiments in the university’s laboratory and the data has shown similar growth of the callus. The astrobiology research centre at Amity University Mumbai was envisioned by its founder president Dr. Aseem Chauhan, who is also the chancellor of the university.

Dr. A.W. Santhosh Kumar, vice chancellor of Amity University Mumbai, said, “Everyday, we receive growth data from ISRO, which we crunch and compare with the on-ground experiment. The results we have seen until now are very promising and the callus has recorded significant growth while ensuring all the necessary parameters. We are also venturing into more experiments with ISRO in the near future.”

The advantage of using the callus of ‘Spinacia Oleracea’, commonly known as spinach, is that any discolouration in its green colour during the growth and death can be captured through the in-built camera. It is fast growing and the growth rate can be measured easily. The propagation of callus is easy than seed germination process.