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Above: The Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) waiting for liftoff on Oct. 29, 1998. One of the many medical experiments performed on STS-95 studied
the growth rates and antibiotic production of bacteria in low
gravity. With the global annual market for antibiotics valued
at more than $US10 billion, scientists hope to identify and replicate
the conditions observed in space that apparently enhance the
production efficiency of antibiotic compounds. Pilot studies
by BioServe
Space Technologies and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical
Research Institute in the 1990s indicated that microbial antibiotic
production was increased by up to 200 percent in space-grown
cultures. The production of actinomycin D on STS-95 was 75 percent
higher in space. The benefits of such findings could have widespread
application in improving production facilities on Earth.
The STS-95 flight provided an important test of some critical new BioServe hardware, the Gas Exchange Fermentation Apparatus, says Dr. David Klaus, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado. Replacing test tubes with this device increased antibiotic production substantially. Testing the device in space was just one step in a multipart process that may improve pharmaceutical production on Earth. The immediate goal of the project is to understand what caused the increased efficiency of production observed in space, and ultimately to simulate these responses in ground facilities.
Klaus is the Associate Director of Research for BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA Commercial Space Center (CSC). CSCs are consortia of government, academia and industry formed to help the commercial sector realize the potential of the space marketplace. NASA helps fund the development of the hardware and provides access to space; industry funds and drives the research; and academic institutions serve as the focal point between the two. In this case a partnership between researchers at the University of Colorado and Kansas State University merges two disciplines – aerospace engineering and biological sciences. The alliance is part of an effort to foster commercial applications stemming from NASA-industry relationships. With the antibiotic experiments carried out in space, researchers bring back cultures and analyze cells and compounds to see if and how they have changed. However, Klaus says that the 10-14 day period in which a shuttle is typically in orbit is often not long enough to decipher significant changes or trends. To move beyond this shortcoming, a 2-4 month mission is scheduled for next year that will take advantage of the long duration International Space Station facilities.
Extended exposure to microgravity on the Space Station will help BioServe and Bristol-Myers Squibb researchers monitor the antibiotics for long-term adaptations and determine if they are beneficial. Klaus says the experiments will involve "multiple sets of inoculation" – growing and re-growing many generations in microgravity and taking samples along the way to analyze production rates and changes at various stages. April of 2001 is the current launch date. |
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Microgravity Research Program Office - from the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, has a wealth of information and background on various microgravity projects. BioServe Space Technologies - A NASA Commercial Space Center Space Station Research Plan - is available as an Acrobat PDF at NASA Headquarters. International Space Station - home page STS-95 - mission home page from the NASA/Johnson Space Center Microgravity Takes a Quantum Leap - Space Station research may shape society in 21st Century |
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