Chernobyl Fungus Thrives on Radiation, Tested on ISS as Potential Space Shield

1 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Jun 30

Cladosporium sphaerospermum has been found thriving inside Chernobyl’s highly radioactive reactor structures, where scientists say ionizing radiation may aid its survival rather than damage it.
37 fungal species were documented in the exclusion zone in the late 1990s, with the dark, melanin-rich C. sphaerospermum dominating samples and showing some of the highest radioactive contamination.
2008 experiments found the fungus grew better under ionizing radiation, prompting the theory that its melanin could support a photosynthesis-like process dubbed radiosynthesis while also shielding it from harm.
A 2022 ISS test showed less cosmic radiation passed through the fungus than through an agar-only control, highlighting possible use as a space-radiation shield.
Scientists still have not proved radiosynthesis itself, saying no clear radiation-driven carbon fixation, metabolic gain or defined energy-harvesting pathway has yet been demonstrated.