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How is Biotechnology Preparing us to Live on the Moon and Mars?
The adventures awaiting astronauts on future long-duration missions have technologists researching sustainable ways to live away from Earth. We’re using what we know from almost 20 years of a continuous human presence on the International Space Station and looking at new technologies to prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Biotechnology – technology that uses living organisms to make products that provide a new use – is key to this research.
With biotechnology, we’re developing new ways to manufacture medicines, build habitats and more in space. Here are some ways biotechnology is advancing spaceflight and how the same research is reaping benefits on Earth.
Healthy astronauts
Planning ways to supply food for a multi-year mission on the Moon or Mars may require making food and nutrients in space. Our scientists are testing an early version of a potential solution: get microorganisms to produce vital nutrients like those usually found in vegetables. Then, whenever they’re needed, astronauts can drink them down.
The microorganisms are genetically engineered to rapidly produce controlled quantities of essential nutrients. Because the microorganisms and their food source both have a long shelf-life at room temperature and only need water to be activated, the system provides a simple, practical way to produce essential nutrients on-demand. The same kind of system designed for space could also help provide nutrition for people in remote areas of our planet.
Our researchers are evaluating the first batches of BioNutrient samples that came back to Earth after an experimental run on the International Space Station.
Because space travel takes a toll on the human body, we’re also researching how biotechnology can be used to advance the field of regenerative medicine.
Related cells that are joined together are collectively referred to as tissue, and these cells work together as organs to accomplish specific functions in the human body. Blood vessels around the cells vascularize, providing nutrients to the tissue to keep it healthy.
Our Vascular Tissue Challenge offers a $500,000 prize to be divided among the first three teams that successfully create thick, metabolically-functional human vascularized organ tissue in a controlled laboratory environment. The vascularized, thick-tissue models resulting from this challenge will function as organ analogs, or models, that can be used to study deep space environmental effects, such as radiation, and to develop strategies to minimize the damage to healthy cells.
Plant factories
Humans have relied on plants’ medicinal qualities for thousands of years for everything from alleviating minor ailments to curing serious diseases. Now, researchers are trying to simplify the process of turning plants into medicine (i.e. how to make it compact and portable). If successful, the cost of biomanufacturing pharmaceuticals on Earth could go down, and plants could produce medicines in space.
Creating medicine on demand isn’t something we typically do, so we’re turning to experts in the field for help. Researchers at the University of California, Davis are transforming plants into mini-medicine factories for future Mars missions. They’re genetically altering an ordinary type of lettuce so that it produces a protein called parathyroid hormone. This hormone is an approved drug for treating osteoporosis, a common condition where bones become weak and brittle.
This type of research is important to long duration spaceflight. When astronauts land on Mars, they will have spent more than half a year in zero gravity on the flight there, and they’ll need to be strong and ready to explore. Having the technologies needed to treat that possibility, and other unanticipated health effects of long duration spaceflight, is crucial.
Growing habitats
Vitamins aren’t the only thing astronauts could be growing on Mars; we’re exploring technologies that could grow structures out of fungi.
An early-stage research project underway at our Ames Research Center is prototyping technologies that could "grow" habitats on the Moon, Mars and beyond out of life – specifically, fungi and the unseen underground threads that make up the main part of the fungus. These tiny threads build complex structures with extreme precision, networking out into larger structures like mushrooms. With the right conditions, they can be coaxed into making new structures – ranging from a material similar to leather to the building blocks for a planetary home.
The myco-architecture project envisions a future where astronauts can construct a habitat out of the lightweight fungi material. Upon arrival, by unfolding a basic structure made up of dormant fungi and simply adding water, the fungi would grow around that framework into a fully functional human habitat – all while being safely contained to avoid contaminating the external environment.
Recycling waste
Once astronauts arrive on the surface of the Moon or a more distant planet, they’ll have to carefully manage garbage. This waste includes some stuff that gets flushed on Earth.
Today, we’re already using a recycling system on the space station to turn urine into drinking water. Poop on the other hand is contained then disposed of on spacecraft returning to Earth. That won’t be possible on more distant journeys, so, we’re turning to biomanufacturing for a practical solution.
Biology can serve as an effective recycling factory. Microorganisms such as yeast and algae feed on all kinds of things classified as “mission waste.” Processing their preferred form of nourishment generates products that can serve as raw materials used to make essential supplies like nutrients, medicines, plastic and fuel.
By taking a careful look at biological processes, we hope to develop new, lightweight systems to leverage that biology to do some helpful in-space manufacturing.
From Space to Earth
Biotechnology is preparing us for longer space missions to the Moon and then Mars – farther from Earth than humans have ever traveled before. As we prepare for those exciting missions, we’re also conducting research on the space station for the primary benefit of everyone on Earth.
January is National Biotechnology Month. To learn more about some of the ways NASA is using biotechnology to solve challenges in space and improve life on Earth, visit this link.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
"If I had to define a major depression in a single sentence, I would describe it as a "genetic/neurochemical disorder requiring a strong environmental trigger whose characteristic manifestation is an inability to appreciate sunsets."
Robert M. Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
Constantly torn between reading smart things and dumb things
Enjoy this First-Year-Anniversary compilation of all of my works in one title: A Cosmic Legacy: From Earth to the Stars This title includes the following works wrapped up into one story: Further Than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 1 Further Than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 2 Pathway to the Stars: Part 1, Vesha Celeste Pathway to the Stars: Part 2, Eliza Williams Pathway to the Stars: Part 3, James Cooper Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party Pathway to the Stars: Part 5, Amber Blythe Pathway to the Stars: Part 6, Erin Carter "Our beautiful mother world ached for a reprieve from the injustices of many, courtesy of cultures and governance systems, that forgot how to love, how to be kind, how to include others, and how to think beyond the scope of greed and power, but within the visions of shared joy and well-being." Together with the organization Eliza Williams founded, called Pathway, she and her growing team will take us on a fantastical and Utopian journey to get us out and into the farthest reaches of space. There are dilemmas such as the physiological effects of space on each of us, as well as the need for longevity and a desire to still be able to visit loved ones following long journeys. Eliza and her team develop capabilities, so we can overcome the challenges ahead and are determined to stabilize a rocky economy, wipe away suffering, violence, disease, cartels, terrorism, and trafficking in persons. They work together to tame seismic activity, weather, and fires. She and her friends tackle ways to prevent extinction and provide solutions to quality of life concerns. They even consider the longevity of our Sun and our Earth's capacity to preserve life. Eliza tackles each of these issues to get us out, and into the stars, so we can begin our biggest quest--to help our Universe breathe ever so lightly. #amazing #science #fiction #novels #best #new #books #scifi #online #read #longevity #CRISPR #physiology #neurology #physics #theoretical #philosphical #politcal #educational #STEM #AmazonAuthor #BarnesAndNobleAuthor #wellbeing #quality #biotech #nanotech #SpaceOpera #astronomy #selfpublished https://www.instagram.com/p/B2GkDbYBs0y/?igshid=ufavr7j6lsy1
I am thrilled to announce that I have found and am working with a brilliant narrator, a Princeton Alumni, who has a wealthy breadth of experience in the science, technology, and creative industries. • Further than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 1, will be released first, followed by Part 2 and the Tome (for those who are patient). Otherwise, Part 1 and Part 2 will help to break down the cost, since the Tome is a half-million-worded heft of a manuscript, for all who dare! • “Life is about to get quite fantastic, and I assure you there is a lot of benevolent purpose behind all of this. For one, we need to preserve life, and in a way that brings joy and meaning to our very being. We need to have the ability to adapt to environments already teeming with life, rather than destroy entire sentient ecosystems wherever we travel. We need to have a healthy and robust focus of love, beauty, and kindness that will allow us to advance civilization in a manner that demonstrates genuine empathy, compassion, and respect for each other’s uniqueness and irreplaceable individuality. We can enjoy our uniqueness while attaining full understanding of each other and mitigating issues that would threaten our existence throughout the cosmos." • ~ Eliza Williams during a very important presidential address to the public, in "Further than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Tome," Chapter 55, "State of the Union" • #thetomechallenge #spaceoperanovels #sciencefictionnovels #politicalsciencefiction #darkmatter #exoticparticles #neuroscience #biotech #nanotech #futurism #matthewopdyke #pathwaytothestars #furtherthanbefore https://www.instagram.com/p/BvtieWwgamY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i71kzia7fjkw
Further Than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Tome
This gigantic manuscript consists of the stories in both “Further Than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 1 and Part 2” compiled into a gigantic scholarly text, called the "Tome." For Eliza and her crew of friends, it is a race against time to meet new cultures, preserve life, and share our legacies with distant civilizations, so we can span the Cosmos and go further than before! Purchase this eBook or HEFT this TOME in the printed format and enjoy the entire original Space Opera! The "Further Than Before" series, subtitled "Pathway to the Stars," consists of all of the stories in an abridged format, ready for people to see what happens before each of the more detailed "Pathway to the Stars" series booklets are released, and is available in a Part 1 and Part 2, which are in-turn compiled into a gigantic scholarly text, called the "Tome." Eliza Williams, Yesha Alevtina, James Cooper, Vesha Celeste, Sky Taylor and a host of friendly heroes tackle some of the greatest dilemmas of the day to bring humanity out and into the stars bearing a legacy we would be proud to share with other civilizations--a legacy of kindness, of mind-to-mind communication, of love, and of healing instead of harming. If we are to overcome the great expansion and the death of all life, we must overcome the smaller challenges to progress and focus on even greater ones. Eliza and her team work diligently to speed the pace of society in her world with the belief that beauty and untold potential are within every being. If we find ways to bring that out in ourselves and others, a future where we can breed longevity, a collective and high quality of life, augment the clarity of our minds, and innovate to span the Cosmos may be in our grasp. Within the organization Eliza founded, called Pathway, she and her team takes us on a fantastical and near-Utopian journey to get us out and into the farthest reaches of space, as we advance further than we have before, to make this happen. There are dilemmas such as the need for longevity and the ability to visit loved ones following long journeys, and they put in place the capabilities to overcome the effects of space travel on our physiology and neurology. We journey as Eliza, and her growing crew of friends, are determined to stabilize a rocky economy, wipe away undue suffering, violence, disease, terrorism, and trafficking in persons. They work together to tame seismic activity, weather, and fires. She and her friends tackle ways to prevent extinction and provide solutions to quality of life concerns. They even consider the longevity of our Sun and our Earth's capacity to preserve life. Eliza tackles each of these issues to get us out, and into the stars, so we can begin our biggest quest--to help our Universe breathe ever so lightly. Allowing it to expand and contract ever so gently, may allow us to preserve its life as well as all of life, allowing us to maximize our mental capacity. With intellect, experience, perspective, kindness, and graciousness we will have the ability to gain more wisdom leading to longevity and clarity of mind. For Eliza and her crew of friends, it is a race against time to meet new civilizations, preserve life, share our legacies, and go further than before! Heft this Tome and join me on the entire original Space Opera of this Pathway to the Stars! No matter the challenge, there will always be an opportunity for greater pursuits! #spaceopera #spaceoperabooks #scifibooks #futurism #scifiauthor #sciencefiction #scififantasy #biotech #nanotech #neurotech #spacetravel #solarsystem #sciencefictionbooks Amazon Author Site: https://www.amazon.com/author/matthew... Author Website: https://www.ftb-pathway-publications.com LinkedIn Company Site: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ftb-... Facebook FTB General Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Furth... Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Further-Than... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewopdyke/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Besokster Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/besokster/
I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in eBook and paperback formats! Pathway to the Stars: Part 6, Erin Carter Enjoy Erin’s beginning journey, in the sixth of a multi-story series, called Pathway to the Stars! "We can guide you, we can answer questions whenever you have them, but the greatest learning comes from freedom." ~ Eliza Williams, "Pathway to the Stars: Part 6, Erin Carter" #spaceopera #futurism #scifiauthor #sciencefiction #scififantasy #biotech #nanotech #neurotech #spacetravel #solarsystem #politicalscifi #strongfemalelead #entertain #educate https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXufGTg5Lb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i0paozefwqiv
I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats! Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party Autographed copies of printed material are available for direct purchase on the author website at https://www.ftb-pathway-publications.com Thank you, Kim, for putting this together! #spaceopera #futurism #scifiauthor #sciencefiction #scififantasy #biotech #nanotech #neurotech #spacetravel #solarsystem #politicalscifi #strongfemalelead #entertain #educate https://www.instagram.com/p/Bur_fTyA4xP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15y5ce5xhxpf5
New Release! Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party
New Release! Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party
I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats!
Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party
Autographed copies of printed material are available for direct purchase on the author website at:
https://www.ftb-pathway-publications.com
Thank you, Kim, for putting this together!
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I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats!
Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party
Autographed copies of printed material are available for direct purchase on the author website at:
https://www.ftb-pathway-publications.com
Thank you, Kim, for putting this together!
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Apply independently produced drug to the burnt area
