As part of a proposed mission that could put plants on Mars as soon as 2007, University of Florida professor Rob Ferl is bioengineering tiny mustard plants, or Arabidopsis thaliana. Rather than altering these plants so that theyll adapt more easily to Martian conditions, hes adding reporter genes: part plant, part glowing jellyfish. With this technique, these diminutive explorers will be able to send messages back to Earth about how they are faring on another planet.
http://www.cosmiverse.com/space06040102.html
