NASA reports that it completed the first-ever sample-to-sequence process entirely aboard the space station. Previously samples were sent back to Earth for sample prep, sequencing, and analysis. The ability to identify microbes in space could help diagnose and treat astronaut ailments in real time, as well as assist in the identification of DNA-based life on other planets. It could also benefit other experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The investigation, which sought to establish a full microbial identification process in microgravity, was broken into parts: the collection of the microbial samples and amplification by PCR, then sequencing and identification of the microbes. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson conducted the experiment aboard the orbiting laboratory, with NASA microbiologist and the project's PI Sarah Wallace and her team watching and guiding her from Houston.
As part of regular microbial monitoring, petri plates were touched to various surfaces of the space station. Working within the Microgravity Science Glovebox about a week later, Whitson transferred cells from growing bacterial colonies on those plates into miniature test tubes, something that had never been done before in space.
Once the cells were successfully collected, DNA was isolated and prepared for sequencing, enabling the identification of the unknown organisms—another first for space microbiology.
When the samples returned to Earth, along with Whitson, biochemical and sequencing tests were completed in ground labs to confirm the findings from the space station. They ran tests multiple times to confirm accuracy. Each time, the results were exactly the same on the ground as in orbit.
Image: NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson performed the Genes in Space-3 investigation aboard the space station using the miniPCR and MinION, developed for previously flown investigations.