In a bold step to combat the biodiversity crisis, scientists have proposed a lunar biorepository to serve as a "backup" for life on Earth. As outlined in a paper published in BioScience and reported by The Guardian, the plan involves storing preserved cells and DNA of Earth’s most critical and at-risk species in the moon’s naturally frigid environment. The aim? To safeguard biodiversity from climate disasters, geopolitical instability, and other Earth-based threats. (The Guardian)

The moon’s unique environment makes it an ideal candidate for such a project. Its polar craters, permanently shielded from sunlight, offer ultra-low temperatures of -196°C year-round, ideal for preserving samples without human involvement. The lack of Earth-based risks like war or flooding further strengthens the case for a lunar biorepository. Dr. Mary Hagedorn of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo emphasized the importance of a secure, passive repository, citing the destruction of Ukraine’s seed bank in 2022 and flooding threats at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault as reminders of the vulnerability of Earth-bound solutions.

The repository wouldn’t just be a backup - it could potentially revive extinct species. Through cryopreservation, living cells can be stored indefinitely and later used for cloning or even terraforming projects on other planets. However, as Dr. Beth Shapiro of UC Santa Cruz explains, only living cells - not DNA fragments - can support cloning. While the technology to create such a vault is available, Hagedorn notes that this ambitious project could take decades to materialize.