Manipulating Ecosystems of Planets or Celestial Bodies Research Paper

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Introduction

One of the key components of post-Earth survival for humans is transforming another planet or celestial body to be fit for human habitation through supporting human life. The transformation of another planet is commonly referred to as terraforming, which is a term that refers to human colonization of space. Terraforming the planet is associated with some advantages in addition to the potential to support human life/habitation such as contain biosphere and space station. Therefore, terraforming planets or celestial bodies is an attractive proposition since it entails developing a new Earth-like home for humanity. Despite the recognition of terraforming planets or celestial bodies to support human life and habitation, there are questions on which planets or celestial bodies should be transformed or left alone. The feasibility of terraforming planets or celestial bodies has remained a major issue in the scientific field. This paper seeks to determine whether planets or celestial bodies can be terraformed to support human life and human habitation.

Background of the Issue

Since humanity gazed at the stars, there have been numerous questions on whether humans are alone and whether life exists elsewhere in the universe (Gurnett, 2009). The issue has contributed to numerous studies in the field of science that attempt to examine the possibility of existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Most of the studies have concluded that life, including intelligent life, should exist across the universe given the huge number of stars like the 300 billion in our galaxy alone as well as the probable existence of planetary systems that are similar to the Earth. However, other studies indicate that the conditions for human life are specialized on the Earth, which makes it the only planet system that supports human life. While the possibility of the existence of life in planets Mars and Venus has been examined, extraterrestrial life is yet to be found.

The discovery of life elsewhere in the planets or celestial bodies would be one of the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind. Terraforming planets or celestial bodies is considered as an attractive proposition that could help in the discovery of life elsewhere, even in the simplest microbial form. Schwartz (2013) defines terraforming as a process of planetary engineering through which a planet’s environment is manipulated in order to generate an Earth-like ecosystem that support human life and habitation. The idea of terraforming has in turn contributed to the expansion of terrestrial imagination, which is also influenced by the growing knowledge of space (Peters, 2016). As terrestrial imagination and the idea of terraforming planets continues to expand, its important to determine the feasibility of transforming planets or celestial bodies to support human life. The determination of the feasibility of terraforming will also help in identifying which planets or celestial bodies can be manipulated to create Earth-like ecosystems.

Methods and Materials

The idea of terraforming planets or celestial bodies to support human life and habitation has been the subject of numerous studies in the field of science in the recent past. These studies have been carried out to examine several issues relating to the topic including planetary biology. Todd (2014) contends that planetary biology comprises four major components i.e. the search for life, planetary protection, ecopoiesis and terraforming, and human life support.

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The studies have also explored the necessary conditions to create an Earth-like ecosystem in another planet or celestial body. This process is geared towards determining the feasibility of terraforming and what planets or celestial bodies could be suitable for the transformation. One of the most important conditions is atmospheric constituents the survival for animals, plants, and humans.

In light of the search for suitable atmospheric constituents as the basis for terraforming planets or celestial bodies, Fujiwara & Doi (2016) conducted a study to examine biochemical preparation of cell extract to support cell-free protein system without physical disruption. The study was conducted on the premise that cell-free protein synthesis is a powerful technique for preparing toxic proteins, guiding protein evolution, and bottom-up synthetic biology. The method employed by Fujiwara & Doi (2016) in this study is preparation of the LoFT cell extract. In this case, LoFT stands for lysozyme treatment, osmotic shock, and freeze-thawing. The process of preparation of the LoFT cell extract entailed combining lysozyme treatment and freeze-thawing through the use of high-speed centrifuges as the only necessary machinery (Fujiwara & Doi, 2016).

Apart from analysis of the methods employed by Fujiwara & Doi (2016) in their study, the determination of whether planets or celestial bodies can be transformed to support human life in this paper involves reviewing existing literature on this topic. The publication by Warmflash (2014) provided a proposal of the best planet to target for human colony other than Mars. The publication also explored the requirements for terraforming an off-world colony as well as necessary conditions to support human life in such a colony. Wilkinson (2016) conducted a study to explore the search of another Earth in light of the recent history of the discovery of exoplanets. The publication was centered on demonstration of the identification of Earth-like planets beyond our Solar System and signs of life in these systems.

The review of existing literature, particularly the primary source, will help in providing a suitable foundation to answer the research question for this scientific research paper. Since the research question is exploratory in nature, a review of studies that have been conducted on the issue is a suitable framework for exploring and answering the issue. Therefore, the materials involved in this exploration/review are existing studies or literature on this research topic.

Results

The review of these publications or studies provided significant insights on the question, “Can planets, or celestial bodies, be terraformed to support human life?” Fujiwara & Doi (2016) found that preparation of LoFT cell extract prepares cell extracts for cell-free protein synthesis through the use of a biochemical method. The biochemical method disrupts cells through a combination of lysozyme treatment, osmotic shock, and freeze-thaw cycles. The subsequent cell-extracts from this preparation method demonstrates similar features/characteristics to those obtained via physical disruption. The two researchers were able to successfully synthesize active green fluorescent proteins in the midst of suitable chemicals to a concentration level of 20 ?M (0.5 mg/mL).

Warmflash (2014) found that terraforming a planet or celestial body like Mars would require thickening of the atmosphere with….....

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