Beyond the Cradle: Mechanisms and Applications Towards the Colonization of Intragalactic Exoplanets

Abstract

Since the dawn of humankind, people have looked to the sky, wondering what lies beyond the blue expanse. As our technology continues to evolve, the prospects of potentially colonizing an exoplanet become astronomically greater, with humankind's curiosity already dabbling in the idea of commercializing space travel and colonizing neighboring planet Mars. This type of science leaves one to wonder; what if the human body could adapt to the environmental conditions of extraterrestrial planets without the need for equipment? What would it take to be capable of living a life similar to that lived on Earth but in outer space? This thesis aims to theorize what that kind of life could look like by examining the technique of bioforming the human body through directed evolution and the terraforming a planet would need to endure in order to support a functioning ecosystem and human life.