A ‘Noah’s Ark’ could be built on the Moon where frozen samples of the most at-risk species on Earth would be sent.
The ark – called a biorepository – would serve as a frozen vault in case certain species disappeared from Earth, scientists have proposed.
The vault would likely be built on either the north pole or the south pole of the Moon.
This is because temperatures here are -200°C and craters create a permanent shadow.
It would mean the frozen vault would not need an active power supply because it would be powered by the cold temperatures.
Scientists from some of the top universities in the world including Harvard and the Smithsonian are working on the project.
These scientists have started to create a protocol for space storage based on the starry goby, a bony fish, according to the article published in the Oxford Academic journal BioScience.
But they are facing some issues like how the frozen samples can be protected during space travel.
There is already a frozen vault like the one proposed in Space here on Earth in Svalbard, Norway.
The scientists say that having another base on the Moon would be a good backup plan to the one already here on Earth.
Nasa is also interested in the north and south pole of the Moon because it has ice which could help establish a human colony there.
‘Such a biorepository would safeguard biodiversity and act as a hedge against its loss occurring because of natural disasters, climate change, over-population resource depletion, wars, socioeconomic threats and other causes on Earth,’ the scientists write.
‘Our initial focus will be on cryopreserving animal skin samples with fibroblast cells.’
They add that a functioning lunar biorepository would primarily be designed to host ‘live, cryopreserved samples of the most at-risk animals on Earth’.
‘This is a decades-long programme,’ the scientists write.
‘Realising a lunar biorepository will require collaboration by a broad array of nations, cultural groups, agencies and international stakeholders to develop acceptable sample holding, governance and long-term plans.
‘Protecting Earth’s life must be a top priority in the rush on the moon sites for industries and many types of science.’
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