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Our Transgenic Tomatoes on the International Space Station
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Our Transgenic Tomatoes on the International Space Station Seeds from wild type and our transgenic tomato lines (modified in their gravity signaling pathway) were send to the International Space Station on the Shuttle Endeavour on August 7th , 2007 (left picture) and were planted by astronaut Clay Anderson on the International Space Station on August 29th, 2007. We are monitoring their germination and growth through images down linked from the station (right) and compare it to our ground controls at BioServe (University of Colorado) and our lab at NCSU. (transgenics are labeled orange and blue; controls are red and black). These transgenic tomato lines were generated by Dr. Mariya Khodakovskaya. In the earth gravitational field they show a dampened response to gravity stimulation, increased biomass, better drought tolerance, and higher lycopene content in their fruits.