Before scientists can work out what might end up in food grown on the moon, they need a better inventory of plants on Earth. A Texas A&M doctoral researcher has helped build one.
Harrison Coker, in Julie Howe’s soil and crop sciences lab, joined an international team assembling measurements from 5,474 plant samples in 73 countries, the university announced Oct. 21, 2026.
The College Station research connects agriculture with space exploration: unfamiliar growing conditions could affect what plants contain.
The database spans 52 elements, beyond the nutrients plants need to grow. Twenty nonessential elements had higher average concentrations than molybdenum, the least abundant essential element measured, according to A&M.
