Microfluidics disk (chamber for growing organisms) and an off-the-shelf microscope.
Well, it’s been 5 months since shelter in place has been in effect here and that means 5 months of no lab access. So, I’ve decided to set up a microscope on my kitchen table! This little beauty is a DinoLite Edge with a 700-900x magnification, similar to the NanoRacks Microscope-3 on the International Space Station. One of the projects I’m currently working on is the development of a platform for monitoring the growth of microorganisms on the moon or other planetary surface. It integrates a microfluidics disk (chamber for growing organisms) and an off-the-shelf microscope, all of which will eventually end up in a housing unit.
Generally, it was thought that microorganisms, such as microalgae and cyanobacteria, are too small for gravity to have an impact on their structure and function [1]. However, that does not seem to be the case. Multiple microorganisms have shown altered growth characteristics during space flight [2-8].
To be able to tap into the full potential of utilizing microalga and cyanobacteria to create a sustainable habitat on the moon, research is needed to understand the effects of the lunar environment (gravity, radiation) on microorganisms. Microorganisms could potentially be used as a food source, to recycle water or even in biomining of lunar regolith (dust, broken rocks, etc.) to obtain useful materials such as iron.
Also, we’ll need to understand the effect of lunar regolith on microbes. There is a longstanding concern about the toxic properties of lunar dust when breathed into the human lungs, and recent studies [9] show it might cause DNA damage. How this would impact microorganisms we have yet to find out.
[1] Pollard, E.C., 1965. Theoretical studies on living systems in the absence of mechanical stress. J. Theor. Biol. 8, 113–123 [2] Thévenet, D., D’Ari, R., Bouloc, P., 1996. The SIGNAL experiment in BIORACK: Escherichia coli in microgravity. J. Biotechnol. 47, 89–97 [3] Klaus, D., Simske, S., Todd, P., Stodieck, L., 1997. Investigation of space flight effects on Escherichia coli and a proposed model of underlying physical mechanisms. Microbiology 143, 449–455 [4] Mennigmann, H.D., Lange, M., 1986. Growth and differentiation of Bacillus subtilis under microgravity. Naturwissenschaften 73, 415–417 [5] Mattoni, R.H.T., 1968. Space-flight effects and gamma radiation interaction on growth and induction of lysogenic bacteria, a preliminary report. Bioscience 18, 602–608 [6] Wang, G., Chen, H., Li, G., Chen, L., Li, D., Hu, C., et al., 2006. Population growth and physiological characteristics of microalgae in a miniaturized bioreactor during space flight. Acta Astronaut. 58, 264–269. [7] Xiao, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, G., Hao, Z., An, Y., 2010. Simulated microgravity alters growth and microcystin production in Microcystis aeruginosa (cyanophyta). Toxicon 56, 1–7. [8] Li, G.-B., Liu, Y.-D., Wang, G.-H., Song, L.-R., 2004. Reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes activity of Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 (Cyanobacterium) under simulated microgravity. Acta Astronaut. 55, 953–957. [9] Caston, R., Luc, K. Hendrix, D., Hurowitz, and Demple, B. 2018. Assessing toxicity and nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage caused by exposure of mammalian cells to Lunar regolith simulants. GeoHealth, doi/epdf/10.1002/2017GH000125