Leaderboard

It is actually fairly complex. (Nano-)encapsulation has been under research for a very long time and the literature has expanded in several bursts. However, the response of the immune system to these complexes is not as well researched. I should also expand a bit and not limit the issue to antigenicity. Especially when it comes to nanomaterials we also have to look broader and include all cellular and humoral immune responses (i.e. immunogenicity). For example, the mentioned liposomes alone generally only elicit weak to no immunogenic responses. Yet certain formulations and depending on what they contain as load, various groups actually identified liposome-specific antibodies. Or take PEG, which is often used as a hydrophilic coating and to prevent immune recognition. However, in some studies it was found that repeated treatment with PEGylated products resulted in faster clearance from blood, suggesting eventual recognition. The tricky bit is that to identify immunogenicty it is often not enough to just inject and look for antibodies. Often many parameters have to be considered, such as the animal type, dosage, number of treatments, interval of treatment, the specific composition of carrier and cargo and so on.

No germs alloyed.

@CharonYIs it possible to, as OP is asking, provide a protein-encoding plasmid that is immuno-invisible? I feel like it shouldn't as that protein could always become an antigen for T cells to present right? Edit: OP isn't specifically asking for a protein-encoding plasmid, but I could see how non-coding plasmids could be immuno-invisible, so the question is mostly interesting when talking about protein-encoding plasmids

Bacteria generally transfer plamids via conjugation. Uptake of free DNA is generally only possible for relatively small fragments. Considering constraints in size and transport mechanisms, I do not think that bacteria can take up whole plasmids outside of in vitro settings (e.g. electrporation, chemical transformation etc.). What you are thinking about is probably more applicable to eukaryotic cells, which actually do phagozytosis. That being said, at least in theory you could probably encapsulated plasmids in a liposome and force a fusion with a bacterial cell (depending on the cell envelope structure of the bacterium in question). These are not active uptake mechanisms, but rather an attempt to increase perneability of small molecules, such as antibiotics. These methods have been discussed since at least the late 80s but I am not sure whether folks have tried e.g. with whole plasmids. It has seen a revival together with nanomaterials as a means for drug delivery. However, it does not seem to have seen much in progress toward clinical utility, and much of the data is in vitro.

But that's it — you have to have EVERYTHING so that it can be self-sustaining. Let's say you set up on the moon. Water might be available, but is it local? You can't pipe it anywhere, since it's not liquid. You have to transport it as a solid. If it's near the poles, do you want to set up shop there? Probably not. Your solar panels will be pretty inefficient. It's a bit similar to setting up a city in the middle of the desert, not near any oasis.

I'm hoping cultured meats will solve that problem, and possibly lead to even better tasting meat. We should be able to engineer all kinds of goodness into meat we grow ourselves. It seems reasonable that Earth would want platinum group metals and HE3 enough to warrant the high cost of bringing them back planetside. Earth will always be our source for biota if we transplant species to other planets/facilities, so trading eggs/seeds will be common. I'm not sure if there's any inorganic needs that can't be filled offplanet. Culture and comfort will always be marketable. It's one thing to eat a grilled steak but something else entirely to eat boeuf bourguignon or a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. I would imagine humans will need human touches out there in the dark, where you're always reminded how small and fragile you are, and you need something familiar. Non-essential tools probably wouldn't be manufactured offplanet for a while, so you'd have to get your guitars and playing cards from Earth.

Great answer. Thank you for your admittedly uninformed opinion. At least you are honest about it.

Could natural selection tell us the purpose of our motivations and instincts? Far more likely is motivations and instincts could tell us the purpose of evolution.