Microbial-Observatory-Mini-Book-04-28-14-508

When planning microbiology experiments bound for the ISS, it is important thatPIs understand the exposure risks to the crew members and implement the requiredlevels of containment. Only microorganisms with a biosafety level of 1 or 2 areallowed to be flown to the ISS. Biosafety level 1 organisms usually require only onelevel of containment. Biosafety level 2 organisms are broken into two categories,those that are moderate risk agents associated with human diseases and in whichprimary exposure routes include percutaneous exposure, ingestion, and mucousmembrane exposure. Microorganisms that meet this description generally requiretwo levels of containment. Biosafety level 2 organisms that are associated with ahigher risk of human diseases in which a lower infectious dose, the likelihood ofaerosolization, and/or larger amounts of agent are present may require three levelsof containment. In order to fly any biological sample, an investigator must submita biohazardous materials form through the NASA Biosafety Review Board (BRB).To register with NASA’s BRB, obtain more information on flying biohazardoussamples, and for the necessary form(s) visit: https://microbrb.jsc.nasa.gov/public/.Multipurpose Facilities Available on the ISSBiological Experiment Laboratory (BioLab): Biolab Includes an incubator,microscope, spectrophotometer, glovebox, freezer units, and two centrifugesto simulate the effects of gravity.A variety of hardware existing insertsand containers for microbiologicalexperimentation are availablethrough the primary European SpaceAgency (ESA) contractor Astrium(www.astrium.eads.net).Bioculture System (BIOS): TheNASA Bioculture System is anadvanced space bioscience culturingsystem capable of supportingvariable duration and long durationexperiments on the ISS. BIOSprovides the ability to culturemammalian and non-mammaliancells and will allow for investigationsinto host-pathogen interactions.Artist’s impression of BioLab. Credit ESA26