Maircater Determination

The Maircater Determination was an environmental dispute on Mairn that occurred in the 40s and 50s FA. Runaway lichen growths spread rampantly to grip Mairn’s landscapes in a chokehold, until eventually a treaty was passed which banned unrestricted experimentation and testing on the otherwise lifeless planet. It was the first such world to see such a thing passed, and set the precedent for some future containment protocols.

Background

In the early interplanetary and interstellar age, gene editing was still in its infancy as a technology. Mairn, being a harsh planet relative to Home but quite benign compared to many other worlds, found itself serving as a testbed for simple biological experimentation; teams of scientists were attempting to modify plants, algae, and lichen for growth in the open air of Mairn to serve as potential food products or to pump oxygen into the atmosphere.

Their efforts ultimately resulted in several artificial species of fast-growing lichens ending up released into the wild where they conducted a takeover of several different Mairn environments, going so far as to completely cover the otherwise empty landscape in some locations including Maircater Crater, a developed region. The lichens posed not only a reported eyesore to those who had made the world their home, but a nuisance to surface operations as the lichens could grow on surfaces such as machinery and inflated habitats. The extreme growth prompted growing calls to contain the spread of the lichens and impose restrictions on the types of experiments that could be performed on the open environment.

Read more: Terraforming

Arguments

Detractors of the case noted Mairn’s landscape had always been barren and lifeless and there was little reason to despise the lichens, which could convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen. Proponents for a ban cited their own preferences for the original landscape, arguing that the lichens were too widespread and that any notable conversion of the atmosphere would still take millions of years with such processes. They also claimed those who had created the lichens sought simply to absolve themselves of responsibility.

Resolution

Support for the open testing ban grew, and eventually a treaty was signed that made Mairn the first otherwise lifeless world to receive notable environmental protections. The company that had created the lichens was mandated to turn over their data, and a disease was manufactured which eradicated the wild lichen population. Today there are a variety of plants adapted for growth in the open air of Mairn, but these lifeforms were developed (and continue to be developed) in closed environments that comply with the original directive.