🌱 🤓 This week I helped with the latest experiment going on in the International Space Station plant habitat which cultivates several cotton genotypes. Each of these petri dishes contains undifferentiated masses of cotton cells known as a calli. Cotton is highly resistant to the process of plant regeneration, making it difficult to engineer stable, reproducing plants that have specific or enhanced traits such as drought resistance. The investigation could provide a better understanding of this behavior and could ultimately improve our ability to grow crop plants on Earth and in space.

Photo credit: Mark Vande Hei.