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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目建立了一个空间生物库，其更广泛的影响/商业潜力代表着直接和真实的扩大了空间进入更广泛的客户群，扩大了商业空间市场的规模和范围。低地球轨道（LEO）环境已被证明是发现和开发新药、疗法和营养品的独特试验平台。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产生了高价值的数据集，能够支持各种与衰老相关的举措。这些研究支持使用LEO环境开发治疗认知功能丧失、心脏健康降低、肌肉萎缩和骨丢失的疗法。过去的天基研发结果表明，通过实现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。空间生物库将成为一个平台，通过可靠地访问这一独特的生物和物理环境，实现在轨发现和可规模化生产。SBIR第一阶段项目将开发一个空间生物库，这是第一个从空间环境中产生并针对空间环境进行优化的微生物物种库。这一举措旨在通过促进更广泛的社区参与使天基研究民主化。与空间工业内的既定工程标准不同，缺乏生物体和科学过程的生物标准化。太空生物库填补了这一空白，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，并提高使命的可比性。PI的公司已经通过有针对性的生物制造和生物勘探/药物发现任务运营了十几个国际空间站任务，重点关注增长和生产。由此产生的菌株和为未来飞行任务开发的菌株将通过空间生物库提供给生物技术市场。一套飞行后特征鉴定将确定在空间环境中观察到的代谢和功能变化，然后将其纳入空间生物库。总的来说，空间生物库的主要好处包括：1）大大缩短了使命开发时间; 2）提供了一个经过飞行调整和验证的生物样本来源，以降低使命目标的风险; 3）为科学家提供了一个全球机制，以从事天基实验;以及4）所有空间的中央储存库-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.