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Investment in spacefaring enterprises must offer transformative solutions to Earth-based challenges. Providing for the future health of our home planet is possibly the greatest return on investment. Therefore, ensuring that the large costs of astronautics also yield benefits on Earth is critical. The goal of space bioprocess engineering is the design, realization and management of biologically driven technologies for supporting off-world human exploration. Here, we outline several technologies with high dual-use potential, argue that continued investment in such technologies is justified, and offer insight into specific research and development strategies that will increase sociological, political and technological benefits for sustainable development on Earth.

As renewed interest in human space-exploration intensifies, a coherent and modernized strategy for mission design and planning has become increasingly crucial. Biotechnology has emerged as a promising approach to increase resilience, flexibility, and efficiency of missions, by virtue of its ability to effectively utilize in situ resources and reclaim resources from waste streams. Here we outline four primary mission-classes on Moon and Mars that drive a staged and accretive biomanufacturing strategy. Each class requires a unique approach to integrate biomanufacturing into the existing mission-architecture and so faces unique challenges in technology development. These challenges stem directly from the resources available in a given mission-class-the degree to which feedstocks are derived from cargo and in situ resources-and the degree to which loop-closure is necessary. As mission duration and distance from Earth increase, the benefits of specialized, sustainable biomanufacturing processes also increase. Consequentially, we define specific design-scenarios and quantify the usefulness of in-space biomanufacturing, to guide techno-economics of space-missions. Especially materials emerged as a potentially pivotal target for biomanufacturing with large impact on up-mass cost. Subsequently, we outline the processes needed for development, testing, and deployment of requisite technologies. As space-related technology development often does, these advancements are likely to have profound implications for the creation of a resilient circular bioeconomy on Earth.

Computational models are increasingly used to investigate and predict the complex dynamics of biological and biochemical systems. Nevertheless, governing equations of a biochemical system may not be (fully) known, which would necessitate learning the system dynamics directly from, often limited and noisy, observed data. On the other hand, when expensive models are available, systematic and efficient quantification of the effects of model uncertainties on quantities of interest can be an arduous task. This paper leverages the notion of flow-map (de)compositions to present a framework that can address both of these challenges via learning data-driven models useful for capturing the dynamical behavior of biochemical systems. Data-driven flow-map models seek to directly learn the integration operators of the governing differential equations in a black-box manner, irrespective of structure of the underlying equations. As such, they can serve as a flexible approach for deriving fast-to-evaluate surrogates for expensive computational models of system dynamics, or, alternatively, for reconstructing the long-term system dynamics via experimental observations. We present a data-efficient approach to data-driven flow-map modeling based on polynomial chaos Kriging. The approach is demonstrated for discovery of the dynamics of various benchmark systems and a coculture bioreactor subject to external forcing, as well as for uncertainty quantification of a microbial electrosynthesis reactor. Such data-driven models and analyses of dynamical systems can be paramount in the design and optimization of bioprocesses and integrated biomanufacturing systems.

This report describes a two-year effort to survey the internal 137Cs and external β-emitter contamination present in the feral dog population near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) site, and to understand the potential for human radiation exposure from this contamination. This work was performed as an integral part of the radiation safety and control procedures of an animal welfare oriented trap-neuter-release (TNR) program. The measurement program focused on external contamination surveys using handheld β-sensitive probes, and internal contamination studies using a simple whole-body counter. Internal 137Cs burden was measured non-invasively during post-surgical observation and recovery. External β contamination surveys performed during intake showed that 21/288 animals had significant, removable external contamination, though not enough to pose a large hazard for incidental contact. Measurements with the whole-body counter indicated internal 137Cs body burdens ranging from undetectable (minimum detection level ∼100 Bq/kg in 2017, ∼30 Bq/kg in 2018) to approximately 30,000 Bq/kg. A total of 33 animals had 137Cs body-burdens above 1 kBq/kg, though none posed an external exposure hazard. The large variation in the 137Cs concentration in these animals is not well-understood, could be due to prey selection, access to human food scraps, or extended residence in highly contaminated areas. The small minority of animals with external contamination may pose a contamination risk allowing exposures in excess of regulatory standards.

To address the lack of familiarity with nuclear history common among nuclear engineers and physicists, we outline the design and deployment of a special-topics course entitled “NE290: Nuclear History, Politics, and Futures” throughout which we contextualize the importance of the field at its inception, in current affairs, and in future endeavors. We argue that understanding this history is paramount in internalizing a sense of respect for the scientific, technical, and sociological ramifications of an unlocked atom—as well as its perils. We begin by outlining the gaps in secondary educational offerings for nuclear history and their importance in consideration with nontechnical engineering guidelines. We then outline a number of ABET specifications as pedagogical goals for NE290 from which we derive a list of target student learning objectives. Next, we outline the NE290 syllabus in terms of assignments and an overview of course content in the form of a class timeline. We provide an extensive description of the materials and teaching methodologies for the four units of NE290: Twentieth-Century Physics, Physics in WWII, the Early Cold War, and the Late Cold War and Modern Era. We detail the sequence of lectures across the course and historical timelines leading up to a showcasing of NE290 final projects which mirror in creativity the novelty of course offering. Because NE290 was first offered during Spring 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional measures in the form of new tools were used to augment the mandate of remote learning. In particular, we leveraged the newfound ubiquity of videoconferencing technology to recruit geographically diverse guest lecturers and used the MIRO tool for virtual whiteboarding. Lastly, we provide an accounting of course outcomes drawn from student feedback which—in tandem with the complete distribution of course material—facilitates the integration of nuclear history into the curriculum for the wider nuclear engineering and physics communities.

Abstract: Space bioprocess engineering (SBE) is an emerging multi-disciplinary field to design, realize, and manage biologically-driven technologies specifically with the goal of supporting life on long term space missions. SBE considers synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering under the extreme constraints of the conditions of space. A coherent strategy for the long term development of this field is lacking. In this Perspective, we describe the need for an expanded mandate to explore biotechnological needs of the future missions. We then identify several key parameters—metrics, deployment, and training—which together form a pathway towards the successful development and implementation of SBE technologies of the future.

A central question surrounding possible human exploration of Mars is whether crewed missions can be supported by available technologies using in situ resources. Here, we show that photovoltaics-based power systems would be adequate and practical to sustain a crewed outpost for an extended period over a large fraction of the planet’s surface. Climate data were integrated into a radiative transfer model to predict spectrally-resolved solar flux across the Martian surface. This informed detailed balance calculations for solar cell devices that identified optimal bandgap combinations for maximizing production capacity over a Martian year. We then quantified power systems, manufacturing, and agricultural demands for a six-person mission, which revealed that photovoltaics-based power generation would require (Formula presented.) 10 t of carry-along mass, outperforming alternatives over ∼50% of Mars’ surface.

NASA mission systems proposals are often compared using an equivalent system mass (ESM) framework, wherein all elements of a technology to deliver an effect-its components, operations, and logistics of delivery-are converted to effective masses, which has a known cost scale in space operations. To date, ESM methods and the tools for system comparison largely fail to consider complexities stemming from multiple transit and operations stages, such as would be required to support a crewed mission to Mars, and thus do not account for different mass equivalency factors during each period and the inter-dependencies of the costs across the mission segments. Further, ESM does not account well for the differential reliabilities of the underlying technologies. The uncertainty in the performance of technology should incur an equivalent mass penalty for technology options that might otherwise provide a mass advantage. Here we draw attention to the importance of addressing these limitations and formulate the basis of an extension of ESM that allows for a direct method for analyzing, optimizing, and comparing different mission systems. We outline a preliminary example of applying extended ESM (xESM) through a techno-economic calculation of crop-production technologies as an illustrative case for developing offworld biomanufacturing systems.

Space missions have always assumed that the risk of spacecraft malfunction far outweighs the risk of human system failure. This assumption breaks down for longer duration exploration missions and exposes vulnerabilities in space medical systems. Space agencies can no longer reduce the majority of the human health and performance risks through crew members selection process and emergency re-supply or evacuation. No mature medical solutions exist to address this risk. With recent advances in biotechnology, there is promise for lessening this risk by augmenting a space pharmacy with a biologically-based space foundry for the on-demand manufacturing of high-value medical products. Here we review the challenges and opportunities of molecular pharming, the production of pharmaceuticals in plants, as the basis of a space medical foundry to close the risk gap in current space medical systems. Plants have long been considered to be an important life support object in space and can now also be viewed as programmable factories in space. Advances in molecular pharming-based space foundries will have widespread applications in promoting simple and accessible pharmaceutical manufacturing on Earth.

A crewed mission to and from Mars may include an exciting array of enabling biotechnologies that leverage inherent mass, power, and volume advantages over traditional abiotic approaches. In this perspective, we articulate the scientific and engineering goals and constraints, along with example systems, that guide the design of a surface biomanufactory. Extending past arguments for exploiting stand-alone elements of biology, we argue for an integrated biomanufacturing plant replete with modules for microbial in situ resource utilization, production, and recycling of food, pharmaceuticals, and biomaterials required for sustaining future intrepid astronauts. We also discuss aspirational technology trends in each of these target areas in the context of human and robotic exploration missions.

There are medical treatment vulnerabilities in longer-duration space missions present in the current International Space Station crew health care system with risks, arising from spaceflight-accelerated pharmaceutical degradation and resupply lag times. Bioregenerative life support systems may be a way to close this risk gap by leveraging in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to perform pharmaceutical synthesis and purification. Recent literature has begun to consider biological ISRU using microbes and plants as the basis for pharmaceutical life support technologies. However, there has not yet been a rigorous analysis of the processing and quality systems required to implement biologically produced pharmaceuticals for human medical treatment. In this work, we use the equivalent system mass (ESM) metric to evaluate pharmaceutical purification processing strategies for longer-duration space exploration missions. Monoclonal antibodies, representing a diverse therapeutic platform capable of treating multiple space-relevant disease states, were selected as the target products for this analysis. We investigate the ESM resource costs (mass, volume, power, cooling, and crew time) of an affinity-based capture step for monoclonal antibody purification as a test case within a manned Mars mission architecture. We compare six technologies (three biotic capture methods and three abiotic capture methods), optimize scheduling to minimize ESM for each technology, and perform scenario analysis to consider a range of input stream compositions and pharmaceutical demand. We also compare the base case ESM to scenarios of alternative mission configuration, equipment models, and technology reusability. Throughout the analyses, we identify key areas for development of pharmaceutical life support technology and improvement of the ESM framework for assessment of bioregenerative life support technologies.

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on modern Earth. They are highly diverse both in structure and genomic sequence, play critical roles in evolution, strongly influence terran biogeochemistry, and are believed to have played important roles in the origin and evolution of life. However, there is yet very little focus on viruses in astrobiology. Viruses arguably have coexisted with cellular life-forms since the earliest stages of life, may have been directly involved therein, and have profoundly influenced cellular evolution. Viruses are the only entities on modern Earth to use either RNA or DNA in both single- and double-stranded forms for their genetic material and thus may provide a model for the putative RNA-protein world. With this review, we hope to inspire integration of virus research into astrobiology and also point out pressing unanswered questions in astrovirology, particularly regarding the detection of virus biosignatures and whether viruses could be spread extraterrestrially. We present basic virology principles, an inclusive definition of viruses, review current virology research pertinent to astrobiology, and propose ideas for future astrovirology research foci. Key Words: Astrobiology-Virology-Biosignatures-Origin of life-Roadmap. Astrobiology 18, 207-223.

Wet Lab Accelerator (WLA) is a cloud-based tool that allows a scientist to conduct biology via robotic control without the need for any programming knowledge. A drag and drop interface provides a convenient and user-friendly method of generating biological protocols. Graphically developed protocols are turned into programmatic instruction lists required to conduct experiments at the cloud laboratory Transcriptic. Prior to the development of WLA, biologists were required to write in a programming language called "Autoprotocol" in order to work with Transcriptic. WLA relies on a new abstraction layer we call "Omniprotocol" to convert the graphical experimental description into lower level Autoprotocol language, which then directs robots at Transcriptic. While WLA has only been tested at Transcriptic, the conversion of graphically laid out experimental steps into Autoprotocol is generic, allowing extension of WLA into other cloud laboratories in the future. WLA hopes to democratize biology by bringing automation to general biologists.

The integration of biology and spacefaring has led to the development of three interrelated fields: Astrobiology, Bioastronautics, and Space Bioprocess Engineering. Astrobiology is concerned with the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe, while Bioastronautics focuses on the effects of spaceflight on biological systems, including human physiology and psychology. Space Bioprocess Engineering, on the other hand, deals with the design, deployment, and management of biotechnology for human exploration. This paper highlights the unique contributions of each field and outlines opportunities for biologists to engage in these exciting avenues of research. By providing a clear overview of the major fields of biology and spacefaring, this paper serves as a valuable resource for scientists and researchers interested in exploring the integration of these disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable plastics are urgently needed to replace petroleum-derived polymeric materials and prevent their accumulation in the environment. To this end, we isolated and characterized a halophilic and alkaliphilic bacterium from the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The isolate was identified as a Halomonas species and designated "CUBES01." Full-genome sequencing and genomic reconstruction revealed the unique genetic traits and metabolic capabilities of the strain, including the common polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis pathway. Fluorescence staining identified intracellular polyester granules that accumulated predominantly during the strain's exponential growth, a feature rarely found among natural PHA producers. CUBES01 was found to metabolize a range of renewable carbon feedstocks, including glucosamine and acetyl-glucosamine, as well as sucrose, glucose, fructose, and further glycerol, propionate, and acetate. Depending on the substrate, the strain accumulated up to ~60% of its biomass (dry wt/wt) in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), while reaching a doubling time of 1.7 h at 30°C and an optimum osmolarity of 1 M sodium chloride and a pH of 8.8. The physiological preferences of the strain may not only enable long-term aseptic cultivation but also facilitate the release of intracellular products through osmolysis. The development of a minimal medium also allowed the estimation of maximum polyhydroxybutyrate production rates, which were projected to exceed 5 g/h. Finally, also, the genetic tractability of the strain was assessed in conjugation experiments: two orthogonal plasmid vectors were stable in the heterologous host, thereby opening the possibility of genetic engineering through the introduction of foreign genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable plastics are urgently needed to replace petroleum-derived polymeric materials and prevent their accumulation in the environment. To this end, we isolated and characterized a halophilic and alkaliphilic bacterium from the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The isolate was identified as a Halomonas species and designated "CUBES01." Full-genome sequencing and genomic reconstruction revealed the unique genetic traits and metabolic capabilities of the strain, including the common polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis pathway. Fluorescence staining identified intracellular polyester granules that accumulated predominantly during the strain's exponential growth, a feature rarely found among natural PHA producers. CUBES01 was found to metabolize a range of renewable carbon feedstocks, including glucosamine and acetyl-glucosamine, as well as sucrose, glucose, fructose, and further glycerol, propionate, and acetate. Depending on the substrate, the strain accumulated up to ~60% of its biomass (dry wt/wt) in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), while reaching a doubling time of 1.7 h at 30°C and an optimum osmolarity of 1 M sodium chloride and a pH of 8.8. The physiological preferences of the strain may not only enable long-term aseptic cultivation but also facilitate the release of intracellular products through osmolysis. The development of a minimal medium also allowed the estimation of maximum polyhydroxybutyrate production rates, which were projected to exceed 5 g/h. Finally, also, the genetic tractability of the strain was assessed in conjugation experiments: two orthogonal plasmid vectors were stable in the heterologous host, thereby opening the possibility of genetic engineering through the introduction of foreign genes., Importance: The urgent need for renewable replacements for synthetic materials may be addressed through microbial biotechnology. To simplify the large-scale implementation of such bio-processes, robust cell factories that can utilize sustainable and widely available feedstocks are pivotal. To this end, non-axenic growth-associated production could reduce operational costs and enhance biomass productivity, thereby improving commercial competitiveness. Another major cost factor is downstream processing, especially in the case of intracellular products, such as bio-polyesters. Simplified cell-lysis strategies could also further improve economic viability., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.