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Plant Science Today (PST)

Review Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp2 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Space breeding: Principles, mechanisms, achievements and prospects for crop improvement

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.12365
Submitted
20 October 2025
Published
20-06-2026

Abstract

Space breeding is an emerging approach that integrates space science with plant breeding to generate novel genetic variation for crop improvement. It is a relatively novel agricultural frontier and technique, harnesses the unique conditions of the extra-terrestrial environment to accelerate crop improvement. This multidisciplinary approach exposes seeds to space conditions like microgravity, cosmic radiation and magnetic fields to induce higher mutation rates than terrestrial methods, creating useful genetic variation in plants. The implications of space breeding extend from improving agricultural productivity on Earth to ensuring the sustainability of long-term space missions and colonisation efforts on other celestial bodies. Space conditions such as microgravity, vacuum and high-energy radiation alter plant genetic structure. To fully realise the benefits of space breeding, a multidisciplinary approach is required, encompassing genetics, molecular biology, space technology and data science. Comprehensive studies on the effects of space radiation on plant genomes and transcriptome are essential to unravel the genetic basis of induced mutations. By combining this knowledge with advanced statistical modelling and simulation, researchers can accelerate the development of superior crop varieties and contribute to a sustainable future. Space breeding represents a promising approach for future crop improvement both on Earth and in space environments.

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