the explorers journal - The Explorers Club

M i c r o b e s i n M i c r o g r a v i t y
the pharmacy of the future
By Ross von Burg
It seems in a microgravity environment without a gravity
bias bacteria grow faster, a lot faster; it is as if
they are hyper-adapted for it, almost a blob effect.
In one of our first experiments, they grew so fast in
the nutrient solution we thought they were going to
burst out of containment.
—T. Boone Pickens III, CEO Astrogenetix
If astrobiology is a new discipline that looks for past life in
the universe over deep time, astrogenetics is the future study
of life beyond Earth under microgravity conditions. Since the
beginnings of manned space exploration, we have known that
weightlessness is dangerous for fending off infection. Not
only does microgravity weaken the human immune system, it
increases the virulence of a range of microbes, making them
far deadlier in space than they are on Earth.
Viruses and bacteria in space grow as much as 1,000
times faster, even in Low Earth Orbit. Disturbing as the
phenomenon may seem, such rapid cell growth and turnover
may very well hold the key to curing a host of illnesses that
plague us here on Earth. Microgravity conditions afford us
the ability to prototype more potent and effective vaccines,
speed up drug development and testing from decades to
mere days, and to cultivate stem-cell lines in orbit.
This extraordinary potential has not been lost on such
space business entrepreneurs as T. Boone Pickens III,
whose company Astrotech Space Operations (formerly
known as SpaceHab) and its Astrogenetix subsidiary have
flown more than 2,600 biological experiments on the
Space Shuttle and on the International Space Station
(ISS) over the past two decades, sending them aloft in
modules developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Astrogenetix has created a unique toolkit of techniques
needed to send and retrieve these payloads as well those
needed to function within NASA’s highly regulated manned
space environment. Given that the ISS—recently completed
and expensive to operate—is sitting out there orbiting the
Earth every 90 minutes with mostly empty rack space
for experiments such as these make for an enticing, and
potentially profitable, prospect. This underutilized asset
was officially designated a national laboratory in 2007,
allowing for commercial processes developed there to be
marketed on Earth.
As those in the industry will tell you, part of the process
“is knowing the process,” one of the reasons as yet very
little science has been flown to the ISS. Its still takes
around 7,000 pieces of paper or so to get an experiment to
orbit but the process of working with NASA is obscure and
known only to a few. Despite the red tape, justifying the
launch costs with a low-volume high-cost cargo is exactly
what the industry needs and provides a profit margin ideal
for a commercial space endeavor.
A microgravity environment is especially good for developing
and testing antibiotic strains for pathogens such as
Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA), an antibioticresistant
superbug that is a common cause of infection in
hospitals. “When you have 100 billion telephone numbers,”
says Pickens, “finding the right one is key. We did it in
three trips for the Salmonella vaccine, which will sell 200
million doses worldwide.
Beyond rapid cell turnover, huge spikes become more
readily visible in the micro-array analysis. This provides
more accurate information as to on what and where the
drugs are acting on and how much of a drug will be needed
to accomplish a desired effect in clinical trials, making it
possible to rapidly prototype the strongest cells. It also may
be possible to carry out protein crystallization, a process
that doesn’t work well on Earth because gravity distorts
the crystalline matrix. To date, no one has successfully
done it in orbit, namely because of the need for more time
than has been available in the initial experiments.
The space business is littered with companies that have
gone bankrupt on cost overruns and disappointing service;
it’s the second wave of guys that usually make the money.
For the time being, however, Astrogenetix seems to have
a leg up on getting access and in positioning itself to be
a pathfinder for other researchers. The development of
microgravity research for biologics is sure to be a game
changer in the development and creation of vaccines and
stem cell lines for the benefit of all humanity.
b i o g r a p h y
A Fellow of The Explorers Club, Ross Von Burg works as a consultant
in the clean tech realm and as a public policy advocate.
the explorers journal