Texas A&M will send grape seeds to the space station for a radiation experiment

Researchers at Texas A&M are preparing to send hundreds of grape seeds to the International Space Station to study how cosmic radiation affects plant genetics, an experiment that could later shape new grape varieties and, potentially, wine made from vines grown from seeds that traveled in orbit.

The project is part of the Texas A&M/Aegis Aerospace Multi-Use Space Platform Integrating Research and Innovative Technology mission, known as TAMU-SPIRIT. Its first platform, TAMU-SPIRIT-1, is set to operate aboard the ISS as what the university describes as a satellite campus for research.

The seeds are expected to remain in space for about six months. After they return to Earth, scientists will plant them alongside identical control seeds that never left the ground and compare how the plants develop. The team plans to examine growth, vine performance, grape performance and genetic changes linked to radiation exposure.

Justin Scheiner, a viticulture specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and an associate professor in the university’s Department of Horticultural Sciences, said the work is meant to show how different radiation levels affect seeds and varietal gene expression once the plants are grown. He also said the project carries the possibility that, in several years, researchers could bottle wine from seeds that left Earth.

According to details released about the mission, the initiative was developed by Coby Arnold and Arvind Subramanyam, senior aerospace engineering students at Texas A&M, working with Scheiner. They designed a transport system intended to protect the seeds while allowing controlled exposure to radiation, with the aim of inducing mutations that could prove useful for breeding grapes better suited to stress conditions.

Among the varieties selected is Lomanto, a historic Texas grape developed by Thomas Volney Munson, the horticulturist whose work became central during the phylloxera crisis in Europe in the late 19th century. That epidemic devastated much of Europe’s vineyards until growers turned to American grape rootstocks for resistance. Researchers say that history underscores why plant genetics and adaptation remain important in viticulture.

Scheiner said he is interested in whether time in space could trigger a positive random mutation that might become the starting point for a new variety. The selected grapes were chosen because they already carry traits considered useful for Texas vineyards, including disease resistance, adaptation to local soils and tolerance to variable water availability.

Once back on Earth, the seeds are expected to be planted at the AgriLife Research vineyard at Thomas Ranch. The genetic analysis phase is expected to involve specialists in genomics and plant breeding, including Andrej Svyantek and Amit Dhingra of Texas A&M’s horticultural sciences department, who will study any molecular changes tied to space exposure.

The first harvest from those vines is projected in four to five years, according to information released about the program. Any wine produced from them remains a future possibility rather than a confirmed outcome.

Beyond its space science angle, the experiment could matter for the beverage industry because it may open another path for developing grape varieties that are more resilient and adaptable. If successful, that kind of breeding work could eventually influence vineyard management and wine innovation as growers face disease pressure, heat and shifting water conditions.

Dhingra said horticulture will be essential in space exploration, whether for food, oxygen or astronaut well-being. For grape growers on Earth, the same research may offer clues about how extreme environments alter plant behavior and how those changes can be used in breeding more productive vines.