Microgravity >> Biotechnology

Biotechnology is an applied biological science that involves the research, manipulation, and manufacturing of biological molecules, tissues, and living organisms. With a critical and expanding role in health, agriculture, and environmental protection, biotechnology is likely to play an important role in our lives and our economy in the next century.

Scientists are studying proteins because they perform many functions in the human body. These functions include transporting oxygen and chemicals in the blood, forming major components of muscle and skin, and fighting disease. Viruses, which are also protein structures, are of interest to researchers as well. They seek to understand the structure of proteins and viruses by growing protein and virus crystals suitable for structural analysis by X-ray diffraction. Research indicates that many crystals of these materials grown in low gravity yield substantially better structural information than crystals grown on Earth, since the effects of gravity adversely influence the crystals' development.

The microgravity biotechnology program has also shown the benefits of using a low-gravity environment for growing organic cells and tissues. On Earth, most tissue cultures grow in flat trays, but growing such tissues in reduced-gravity facilities has produced three-dimensional structures that are larger and more representative of tissues found in the human body. This has been accomplished by using bioreactors, which are horizontal cylinders that rotate to inhibit the full effects of gravity, both on Earth and aboard the space shuttle. Using these methods of study, scientists have been able to cultivate and study both cancerous and healthy cells and tissue. As scientists become more successful in cell and tissue culturing, they will have to rely less often on human subjects for their studies.

Crystals of bacteriophage lambda lysozyme grown in microgravity conditions during the flight STS-67 of the space shuttle. The length of the largest needle is about 2 mm.

Fundamental biotechnology opens the door to the exploration of biotechnological processes and biophysical phenomena that might be studied in the space environment. Fundamental research areas in biotechnology that can be applied to biological systems include separation science and technology, molecular and cellular aggregation, the behavior of electrically driven flows, and capillary and surface phenomena.

Text source: Hampton University/NASA