Space Agriculture: Amaranthus Resilience, Regolith Simulants, and Plant Omics in Microgravity

​Establishing sustainable space farming systems is essential for long-term crewed missions and life-support infrastructure. This presentation examines the physiological and molecular responses of Amaranthus, a fast-growing, nutrient-dense tropical crop, cultivated under simulated microgravity and extraterrestrial soil environments. Prof. Dwivany will present findings on crop performance in Lunar (LMS-1) and Martian (MGS-1) regolith simulants, focusing on root system architecture, stress-response pathways, and plant-microbe interactions under extreme substrate conditions. The session will highlight how multi-omics datasets and synthetic biology tools can inform crop engineering for both space agriculture and terrestrial climate resilience.

​Key Focus Areas:

• ​Amaranthus development in Lunar (LMS-1) and Martian (MGS-1) regolith simulants

• ​Physiological, transcriptomic, and root architectural responses under simulated microgravity

• ​Multi-omics strategies for engineering stress-tolerant plant chassis

• ​Translational applications of space biology research to climate-resilient agriculture

​Speaker:

​Prof. Fenny Martha Dwivany, Professor of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB). Her research focuses on post-harvest fruit genomics, plant responses to microgravity, and space agriculture frameworks.