SBIR Phase I: Space Biobank: Enabling High Throughput Space-Based Biotech R&D

SBIR 第一阶段：太空生物库：实现高通量天基生物技术 R

• 批准号: 2419674
• 负责人: Olivia Holzhaus
• 金额: $ 27.4万
• 依托单位: Rhodium Scientific, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2419674&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Space; Biobank; Enabling

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project establishing a space biobank represents a direct and real expansion of space access to a broader customer base, enhancing the scale and scope of commercial space markets. The low Earth orbit (LEO) environment has been shown to be a unique testbed to discover and develop novel drugs, therapies, and nutraceuticals. As biology adapts to space, changes in physiology can provide scientists with new drug targets and secondary metabolites. In addition, physiological studies conducted on astronauts have generated high-value datasets capable of supporting a variety of aging related initiatives. These studies support the use of the LEO environment for the development of therapies treating cognitive function loss, cardiac health reduction, muscle atrophy, and bone loss. Past results from space-based R&D indicate that by enabling more biotech missions, society stands to benefit from breakthroughs in agriculture, regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and biomanufacturing. Space Biobank will become the platform that enables on-orbit discovery and scalable production through reliable access to this unique biological and physical environment.This SBIR Phase I project will develop a space biobank, the first repository for microbial species produced from and optimized for the space environment. This initiative aims to democratize space-based research by facilitating broader community engagement. Unlike the well-established engineering standards within the space industry, biological standardization for organisms and scientific processes is lacking. The space biobank addresses this gap, enabling teams to streamline pre-flight development, conduct experiments using space-flown strains, and enhance mission comparability. The PI’s company has operated a dozen ISS missions focused on both growth and production through targeted biomanufacturing and bioprospecting/drug discovery missions. The resulting strains and those developed for and on future missions will be made available to the biotech market through the space biobank. A suite of postflight characterizations will determine metabolic and functional modifications observed in the space environment prior to inclusion in the space biobank. Overall, the key benefits of the space biobank include 1) a significant reduction in mission development timelines; 2) a source of flight-adapted and proven biological samples to de-risk mission objectives; 3) a global mechanism for scientists to engage in space-derived experiments; and 4) a central repository for all space-flown microbial samples.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

建立太空生物库的小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目具有更广泛的影响/商业潜力，代表着将太空准入直接、真正地扩展到更广泛的客户群，从而增强了商业太空市场的规模和范围。低地球轨道（LEO）环境已被证明是发现和开发新药物、疗法和营养保健品的独特试验台。随着生物学适应太空，生理学的变化可以为科学家提供新的药物靶点和次级代谢产物。此外，对宇航员进行的生理研究已经生成了能够支持各种与衰老相关的举措的高价值数据集。这些研究支持使用 LEO 环境来开发治疗认知功能丧失、心脏健康状况下降、肌肉萎缩和骨质流失的疗法。过去的天基研发结果表明，通过执行更多的生物技术任务，社会将从农业、再生医学、药物发现和生物制造的突破中受益。太空生物库将成为通过可靠地访问这种独特的生物和物理环境实现在轨发现和规模化生产的平台。SBIR 第一阶段项目将开发一个太空生物库，这是第一个由太空环境产生并针对太空环境优化的微生物物种的储存库。该倡议旨在通过促进更广泛的社区参与来实现天基研究的民主化。与航天工业中完善的工程标准不同，缺乏生物体和科学过程的生物标准化。太空生物库解决了这一差距，使团队能够简化飞行前的开发，使用太空飞行的菌株进行实验，并增强任务的可比性。该 PI 的公司已经执行了十几个国际空间站任务，通过有针对性的生物制造和生物勘探/药物发现任务，重点关注生长和生产。由此产生的菌株以及为未来任务开发的菌株将通过太空生物库提供给生物技术市场。一系列飞行后表征将确定在纳入太空生物库之前在太空环境中观察到的代谢和功能变化。总体而言，太空生物库的主要好处包括：1）显着缩短任务开发时间； 2) 适应飞行且经过验证的生物样本来源，以降低任务目标的风险； 3）科学家参与太空实验的全球机制； 4) 所有太空飞行微生物样本的中央存储库。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。