Team of Peruvian scientists wins National Geographic contest

Last August, the team of young Peruvian scientists named Killalab won a research and exploration contest promoted by National Geographic, winning a $10,000 grant.

Killalab, whose main members are Ruth Quispe Pilco, Rómulo Cruz Simbrón, Marco Capcha Mansilla and Sofía Rodríguez, will use this money for the research of their project "Cyanobacteria and their natural strategies in Peru’s high Andean lagoons, as a basis for adaptation to ecosystems in the face of climate change."

This study seeks to explore the extreme environments of high mountain areas in our country, with high UV radiation rates and low temperatures, in order to collect samples of resistant cyanobacteria in high Andean lagoons. The aim is for them to go on to analyze the behavior and survival margin of these organisms on the lunar surface.

The cyanobacteria will be introduced into a kind of mini laboratory (the size of a soda can), a device that will reach the Moon in a spacecraft belonging to the Indian company Team Indus. The launch is scheduled for next year.

It is important to mention that Killalab's mission pursues major objectives, including generating biotechnological contributions for human space exploration and understanding the limits of life in a scenario of future global warming consequences faced by our planet.