As more and more species become close to extinction, scientists have been collecting biological samples from animals, plants, and other organisms and storing them in biorepositories around the world. Photo: @Islet Immunoengineering Lab.

But climate change, environmental disasters and war are threatening these storage sites. Photo: @NOAA.

Now, a group of researchers have been brainstorming to find an unimaginable solution: building these biological shelters on the Moon. Photo: @Space.

A biological repository in the permanent shadow of the Moon's south pole could be much more stable than those on Earth. Photo: @The Express Tribune.

Those areas typically maintain temperatures of around –196°C, the minimum temperature required to store most animal cells for long periods of time, scientist Mary Hagedorn said in a statement. Photo: @Audacy.

“It’s good to see more and more plans being proposed, especially when it comes to protecting biodiversity and life on Earth on another planet,” said Hagedorn of the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC. Photo: @The Guardian.

Hagedorn and colleagues were inspired by the story of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which takes advantage of the freezing temperatures of the Arctic to preserve millions of seeds from around the world . Photo: @Simple Wikipedia.

But in 2017, melting permafrost flooded the vault, putting its precious seeds at risk. That event and similar ones in the future, researchers say, underscore the need for a more robust backup plan. Photo: @ National Geographic.

Another group of experts proposed building a lunar ship carrying biological samples, running through lava tubes below the lunar surface, but that design requires a solar-powered cooling system. Any loss of power, or overheating, would completely destroy the ship, and the samples. Photo: @National Geographic.

In the Moon's permafrost shadow, a lunar bio-reservoir would require no energy, or ongoing human maintenance, Hagedorn's team said. Photo: @Jatan's Space.

And these biological cells, or seeds, could be of great value in regenerating populations of endangered or extinct species of plants and animals, thereby helping humans build ecosystems in future human colonies on the Moon or Mars. Photo: @ Earth.com.

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