Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS
Abstract Cultivation of microorganisms in space has enormous potential to enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Here, we develop an autonomous payload with fully programmable serial passaging and sample preservation, termed the Modular Open Biological Platform (MOBP), and flight-test the MOBP a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | npj Microgravity |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00463-2 |
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| author | Xin Liu Pat Pataranutaporn Benjamin Fram Allison Z. Werner Sunanda Sharma Nicholas P. Gauthier Erika Erickson Patrick Chwalek Kelsey J. Ramirez Morgan A. Ingraham Natasha P. Murphy Krista A. Ryon Braden T. Tierney Gregg T. Beckham Christopher E. Mason Ariel Ekblaw |
| author_facet | Xin Liu Pat Pataranutaporn Benjamin Fram Allison Z. Werner Sunanda Sharma Nicholas P. Gauthier Erika Erickson Patrick Chwalek Kelsey J. Ramirez Morgan A. Ingraham Natasha P. Murphy Krista A. Ryon Braden T. Tierney Gregg T. Beckham Christopher E. Mason Ariel Ekblaw |
| author_sort | Xin Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Cultivation of microorganisms in space has enormous potential to enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Here, we develop an autonomous payload with fully programmable serial passaging and sample preservation, termed the Modular Open Biological Platform (MOBP), and flight-test the MOBP aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by conducting enzymatic and microbial plastics upcycling experiments. The MOBP is a compact, modular bioreactor system that allows for sustained microbial growth via automated media transfers, such as those for sample collection and storage for terrestrial analyses, and precise data monitoring from integrated sensors. The MOBP was flight-tested with two experiments designed to evaluate biological upcycling of the plastic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The bioproduct βKA can be polymerized into a nylon-6,6 analog with improved properties for use in the production of a variety of materials. We posit the MOBP will aid in democratizing the execution of synthetic biology in spaceflight towards enabling ISRU. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1d073a3ee5eb463d891ea8acb1965ef3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2373-8065 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Microgravity |
| spelling | doaj-art-1d073a3ee5eb463d891ea8acb1965ef32025-08-20T03:27:18ZengNature Portfolionpj Microgravity2373-80652025-06-0111111010.1038/s41526-025-00463-2Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISSXin Liu0Pat Pataranutaporn1Benjamin Fram2Allison Z. Werner3Sunanda Sharma4Nicholas P. Gauthier5Erika Erickson6Patrick Chwalek7Kelsey J. Ramirez8Morgan A. Ingraham9Natasha P. Murphy10Krista A. Ryon11Braden T. Tierney12Gregg T. Beckham13Christopher E. Mason14Ariel Ekblaw15MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical SchoolNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical SchoolNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell MedicineDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell MedicineNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences CenterDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell MedicineMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAbstract Cultivation of microorganisms in space has enormous potential to enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Here, we develop an autonomous payload with fully programmable serial passaging and sample preservation, termed the Modular Open Biological Platform (MOBP), and flight-test the MOBP aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by conducting enzymatic and microbial plastics upcycling experiments. The MOBP is a compact, modular bioreactor system that allows for sustained microbial growth via automated media transfers, such as those for sample collection and storage for terrestrial analyses, and precise data monitoring from integrated sensors. The MOBP was flight-tested with two experiments designed to evaluate biological upcycling of the plastic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The bioproduct βKA can be polymerized into a nylon-6,6 analog with improved properties for use in the production of a variety of materials. We posit the MOBP will aid in democratizing the execution of synthetic biology in spaceflight towards enabling ISRU.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00463-2 |
| spellingShingle | Xin Liu Pat Pataranutaporn Benjamin Fram Allison Z. Werner Sunanda Sharma Nicholas P. Gauthier Erika Erickson Patrick Chwalek Kelsey J. Ramirez Morgan A. Ingraham Natasha P. Murphy Krista A. Ryon Braden T. Tierney Gregg T. Beckham Christopher E. Mason Ariel Ekblaw Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS npj Microgravity |
| title | Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS |
| title_full | Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS |
| title_fullStr | Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS |
| title_short | Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS |
| title_sort | development and flight testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the iss |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00463-2 |
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