ReviewPlant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology2016
Space, the final frontier: A critical review of recent experiments performed in microgravity.
Review in Plant science : an international journal of experimental plant biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of data from spaceflight transcriptome experiments does not support the idea of a common bacterial "spaceflight response".Scientific reports · 2018Pooled it
- Stability of Medicinal Nanoemulsions to Spaceflight: Insights From the StarMed Experiment.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Suborbital spaceflight reveals rapid changes in gene expression accompanying the transition to and from space.NPJ microgravity · 2026Article
- Mechatronics Design of a Clinostat Agriculture Space System for Biomimetic Phyto-Growth in Microgravity (Phyto-G) and 3D-Motion Computer Simulation on Hydroponic Environment.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Potential regulatory modules to integrate microgravity signals into flowering pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana grown in space.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Exploring the potential of plant astrobiology: adapting flora for extra-terrestrial habitats: a review.Biologia futura · 2025Review
- Alterations in physiological and biochemical characteristics of Prunus sibirica seedlings raised from spaceflight seeds.PloS one · 2025Article
- Advancing insights into microgravity induced muscle changes using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism.NPJ microgravity · 2024Review
- Effects of altered gravity on growth and morphology in Wolffia globosa implications for bioregenerative life support systems and space-based agriculture.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Microgravity and evasion of plant innate immunity by human bacterial pathogens.NPJ microgravity · 2023Review
- Glycome profiling and immunohistochemistry uncover changes in cell walls of Arabidopsis thaliana roots during spaceflight.NPJ microgravity · 2023Article
- Perspectives for plant biology in space and analogue environments.NPJ microgravity · 2023Review
- Future space experiment platforms for astrobiology and astrochemistry research.NPJ microgravity · 2023Review
- Review
- Article
- Red Light Enhances Plant Adaptation to Spaceflight and MarsLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Plants in Microgravity: Molecular and Technological Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Recent transcriptomic studies to elucidate the plant adaptive response to spaceflight and to simulated space environments.iScience · 2022Review
- Conducting Plant Experiments in Space and on the Moon.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Review
- Interstellar space biology via Project Starlight.Acta astronautica · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Space biology provides an opportunity to study plant physiology and development in a unique microgravity environment. Recent space studies with plants have provided interesting insights into plant biology, including discovering that plants can grow seed-to-seed in microgravity, as well as identifying novel responses to light. However, spaceflight experiments are not without their challenges, including limited space, limited access, and stressors such as lack of convection and cosmic radiation. Therefore, it is important to design experiments in a way to maximize the scientific return from research conducted on orbiting platforms such as the International Space Station. Here, we provide a critical review of recent spaceflight experiments and suggest ways in which future experiments can be designed to improve the value and applicability of the results generated. These potential improvements include: utilizing in-flight controls to delineate microgravity versus other spaceflight effects, increasing scientific return via next-generation sequencing technologies, and utilizing multiple genotypes to ensure results are not unique to one genetic background. Space experiments have given us new insights into plant biology. However, to move forward, special care should be given to maximize science return in understanding both microgravity itself as well as the combinatorial effects of living in space.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.