“Yeast cell experiments on Artemis 1 may help astronauts survive cosmic radiation in deep space” CBC News August 27, 2022.
my experimental self 6000 yeast genes
strain against glass walls of a test tube
neatly tucked into a shoebox-sized laboratory
adrift beyond Earth’s magnetosphere
bombarded by cosmic radiation
moisture, sugar, golden nuggets of DNA
metabolize, find a foothold,
dewdrop bubbling, cell dividing
maybe one day they will discover the one and only gene
out of 6000 that makes me want to stay out here
hunker down, not answer the phone, read mystery novels,
replicating my yeasty way through the dark unknown
Featured Image credit:
Scanning electrograph image of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells grown on the International Space Station. NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=298.
