NASA Biotechnology Science Program
By Dr. John M. Horack
Director of Science Communications
NASA Marshall Space Sciences Laboratory
IMAGINE
BEING A SCIENTIST, BUT ONLY BEING able to go into your best laboratory
for 10 days every year or so. The Space Shuttle is an excellent
platform for biotechnology research, but it has to return to Earth
after two weeks in space, along with the spaceborne laboratory and
its outstanding and unique features for performing research. The
NASA Microgravity Research Program's biotechnology discipline focuses
on the development of new technologies to enhance current biological
research and to open up new avenues of related research. As one
of the most dynamic segments of our high-technology economy, biotechnology
is playing an increasingly important role in medical research and
the development of pharmaceutical drugs, agricultural research and
products, environmental protection and many other important economic
areas.
Biotechnology on Space Station—The International Space
Station (ISS) is a setting for the autonomous function of more sophisticated
research units that will allow NASA to conduct critical science
experiments—24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will help
science research and the imminent science and medicine applications
in NASA's biotechnology program advance more quickly. A permanent,
manned, operating laboratory in the microgravity environment of
space will allow scientists to conduct a wide range of experiments,
study them fundamentally and repeat and confirm basic hallmarks
of scientific advancement—without having to wait for another
Shuttle flight months or years later—culminating with quicker
results. Biotechnology experiments aboard the ISS—including
the growth of high-quality protein crystals, cell and tissue development
and fundamental science—will be important in acquiring new
knowledge and insight that will touch our lives in more ways than
we can imagine. NASA's cell science program has focused on using
bioreactors to simulate low-gravity conditions for the culture of
cells to the extent possible on Earth. Research in this area will
help establish the scientific basis for conducting culture experiments
in the microgravity environment of space and contribute to culturing
functional and differentiated tissues for medical treatment use—providing
an opportunity to recreate three-dimensional cell relationships
important to normal organ function.
Protein Crystal Growth—U.S. Space Shuttle missions
since 1985 have demonstrated that certain protein crystals grown
in space are larger, have fewer defects and have greater internal
order than their Earth-grown counterparts. The Mir science
program provided the opportunity to grow protein crystals for longer
periods. Mir helped shape investigations planned for the
ISS and provided an early understanding of ISS operations. Information
from high-quality, three-dimensional space-grown crystals reveals
the structure or "blueprint" of the protein, providing key information
that we cannot normally gain from poor-quality crystals grown on
Earth. Many diseases involve proteins. Growing high-quality protein
crystals for longer durations aboard the ISS will be significant
in acquiring knowledge of important protein structures to help us
prevent the spread of a disease. With more complete knowledge of
just how that protein operates, we can attack the problems of disease
systematically.
An Emerging Biotechnology—The ability to design a
drug based on knowledge of a protein's structure is an emerging
technology with enormous promise. Despite relatively good research
success, the long time required to get a pharmaceutical to market
has allowed only a few potential products to reach clinical trials
and the final premarket stages of development. Expanding this technology
is required for a competitive advantage in biotechnology and to
ensure NASA and U.S. leadership in providing cutting-edge research
and technologies for space missions, technology transfer and commercialization.
NASA's goal of obtaining a better understanding of how gravity affects
crystal growth processes is important for achieving quality crystal
growth both in flight and on the ground.
Applying Knowledge—NASA's goal is to exploit the unique
microgravity environment of space to advance the understanding of
fundamental processes, as well as use the information gained through
space experimentation on a wide range of biotechnology applications.
Gravity's effect on these processes can be virtually eliminated
in space, thus allowing space-based experiments, coupled with ground-based
experimental and theoretical research, to provide insights into
biotechnological processes.
While basic research and the fundamentals of biotechnology are
still of major importance to our program, there is shifting emphasis
toward "mission-oriented" research—research aimed at specific
problems in biotechnology applications on Earth as well as in the
space environment. Thus, it is important that firmer links be developed
between the research in support of the exploration of space and
practical applications on Earth.
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