Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular Muscle Experiment
T2 - Hardware and Operational Lessons for Future Astrobiology Space Experiments
AU - Pollard, Amelia
AU - Gaffney, Christopher
AU - Deane, Colleen
AU - Balsamo, Michele
AU - Cooke, Michael
AU - Ellwood, Rebecca
AU - Hewitt, Jennifer
AU - Mierzwa, Beata
AU - Mariani, Alessandro
AU - Vanapalli, Siva A
AU - Etheridge, Tim
AU - Szewczyk, Nathaniel J
PY - 2020/8/6
Y1 - 2020/8/6
N2 - Biology experiments in space seek to increase our understanding of what happens to life beyond Earth and how we can safely send life beyond Earth. Spaceflight is associated with many (mal)adaptations in physiology, including decline in musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, vestibular, and immune systems. Biological experiments in space are inherently challenging to implement. Development of hardware and validation of experimental conditions are critical to ensure the collection of high-quality data. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has been studied in space for more than 20 years to better understand spaceflightinduced (patho)physiology, particularly spaceflight-induced muscle decline. These experiments have used a variety of hardware configurations. Despite this, hardware used in the past was not available for our most recent experiment, the Molecular Muscle Experiment (MME). Therefore, we had to design and validate flight hardware for MME. MME provides a contemporary example of many of the challenges faced by researchers conducting C. elegans experiments onboard the International Space Station. Here, we describe the hardware selection and validation, in addition to the ground-based experiment scientific validation testing. These experiences and operational solutions allow others to replicate and/or improve our experimental design on future missions.
AB - Biology experiments in space seek to increase our understanding of what happens to life beyond Earth and how we can safely send life beyond Earth. Spaceflight is associated with many (mal)adaptations in physiology, including decline in musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, vestibular, and immune systems. Biological experiments in space are inherently challenging to implement. Development of hardware and validation of experimental conditions are critical to ensure the collection of high-quality data. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has been studied in space for more than 20 years to better understand spaceflightinduced (patho)physiology, particularly spaceflight-induced muscle decline. These experiments have used a variety of hardware configurations. Despite this, hardware used in the past was not available for our most recent experiment, the Molecular Muscle Experiment (MME). Therefore, we had to design and validate flight hardware for MME. MME provides a contemporary example of many of the challenges faced by researchers conducting C. elegans experiments onboard the International Space Station. Here, we describe the hardware selection and validation, in addition to the ground-based experiment scientific validation testing. These experiences and operational solutions allow others to replicate and/or improve our experimental design on future missions.
KW - Spaceflight
KW - Space biology
KW - Astrobiology
KW - C. elegans
KW - Hardware development
U2 - 10.1089/ast.2019.2181
DO - 10.1089/ast.2019.2181
M3 - Journal article
VL - 20
SP - 935
EP - 943
JO - Astrobiology
JF - Astrobiology
SN - 1557-8070
IS - 8
ER -