DNA Sequencing To Be Conducted In Space For First Time

Virologist Kate Rubins from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, and two other mission members, will be making a space flight to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 24. The new astronaut will be carrying out nearly 250 experiments in the space laboratory, one of them reportedly being the examination of DNA sequencing in micro-gravity.

The small portable sequencers that will be used in space will be akin to the type used in the field during the outbreak of a disease. "The kind of technology they use in a remote field medical center is the same kind of technology you'd probably start designing for an instrument on Mars or deep-space exploration," Kate Rubins said. "The really critical question for NASA is whether these devices can detect signatures of life in the universe."

The first stage of the sequencing research will be to observe the effect of space on the equipment and sequencing reaction, and if they can indeed work in zero gravity. The second stage of the experiment would involve monitoring what happens in real time to DNA in space. After the experiments are successfully carried out, scientists will analyze where epigenetic changes happen in response to sleep disruptions or radiation exposure.  Rubins will be on-board the ISS for a duration of four months, and her success in sequencing DNA in space will come down to timing as per reports.

The virologist will be also be carrying out experiments linked to the human immune system and its response in space, especially in the wake of a slight decrement in the immune system which interferes with its capability to cope up with bacterial or viral threats. According to a report, Rubins was previously a lead researcher who studied viral diseases like Ebola and monkey pox in West and Central Africa, which incidentally is an experience that will help her in her experiments on the ISS, before being selected to be a part of NASA's astronaut program.