Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Carbon- and Titanium-Ions Irradiation on Morpho-Anatomical and Biochemical Traits of Dolichos melanophthalmus DC. Seedlings Aimed to Space Exploration

The realization of manned missions for space exploration requires the development of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSSs) to make human colonies self-sufficient in terms of resources. Indeed, in these systems, plants contribute to resource regeneration and food production. However, the cultivation of plants in space is influenced by ionizing radiation which can have positive, null, or negative effects on plant growth depending on intrinsic and environmental/cultivation factors. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of high-LET (Linear Energy Transfer) ionizing radiation on seed germination and seedling development in eye bean. Dry seeds of Dolichos melanophthalmus DC. (eye bean) were irradiated with two doses (1 and 10 Gy) of C- and Ti-ions. Seedlings from irradiated seeds were compared with non-irradiated controls in terms of morpho-anatomical and biochemical traits. Results showed that the responses of eye bean plants to radiation are dose-specific and dependent on the type of ion. The information obtained from this study will be useful for evaluating the radio-resistance of eye bean seedlings, for their possible cultivation and utilization as food supplement in space environments.

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UV-C rays to simulate the exposition of photosynthetic organisms to solar radiation in space environments

International Journal of Plant Biology ◽

10.4081/pb.2020.8379 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Adriano Sofo

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Life Support ◽

The Other ◽

Low Doses ◽

Terrestrial Plants ◽

Photosynthetic Organisms ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Space Environments ◽

Uv C ◽

Bioregenerative Life Support

Ultraviolet (UV) is a component of the solar radiation with a wavelength in the range of 100 ≤ λ ≤ 390 nm that is almost entirely shielded by the terrestrial atmosphere but not in space. The effects of UV-C on plants mainly depend on a) the applied UV-C radiation dose and quality, b) the different plant species and varieties used, and c) the phenological phase of irradiated plants. UV-C radiation can be extremely dangerous also at low exposition times. On the other side, considering that terrestrial plants under sunlight are naturally exposed to low doses of UV-C, the question is how much UV-C could be beneficial for plants cultivated in space, in relation to a) protection of plants from pathogens, b) increase of the concentration of important dietary supplements, and c) regulation of some physiological processes. The research on UV-C should be more addressed to better evaluate the damages and benefits in UV-C-exposed photosynthetic organisms, involving plants useful for bioregenerative life support systems (BLSSs).

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Evaluating the cost of pharmaceutical purification for a long-duration space exploration medical foundry

10.1101/2021.06.21.449300 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew J. McNulty ◽

Aaron J. Berliner ◽

Patrick G. Negulescu ◽

Liber McKee ◽

Olivia Hart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Treatment ◽

Life Support ◽

Space Exploration ◽

Space Station ◽

Base Case ◽

Test Case ◽

Disease States ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Therapeutic Platform ◽

Bioregenerative Life Support

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.

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Evaluating the Cost of Pharmaceutical Purification for a Long-Duration Space Exploration Medical Foundry

Frontiers in Microbiology ◽

10.3389/fmicb.2021.700863 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew J. McNulty ◽

Aaron J. Berliner ◽

Patrick G. Negulescu ◽

Liber McKee ◽

Olivia Hart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Treatment ◽

Life Support ◽

Space Exploration ◽

Space Station ◽

Base Case ◽

Test Case ◽

Disease States ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Therapeutic Platform ◽

Bioregenerative Life Support

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.

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