STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA — Researchers are developing a system that uses microbes and human waste to make food. <br /><br />In the future, astronauts traveling to Mars will need to recycle and reuse as much as possible, including their feces, CNET reported. <br /><br />Scientists from Penn State University have been able to create a substance, as geosciences professor Christopher House describes as "a little bit like Marmite or Vegemite where you're eating a smear of 'microbial goo.'"<br /><br />The system introduces microbes into the waste, which then break it down through anaerobic digestion. <br /><br />The researchers then took the methane released during the process to grow the microbe Methylococcus capsulatus, which is used in animal feed and is a good source of protein and fat. <br /><br />The research was partly funded by a NASA grant, as the agency looks for creative solutions for eventual manned missions to Mars.
