SBIR Phase I: Space Biobank: Enabling High Throughput Space-Based Biotech R&D

SBIR 第一阶段：太空生物库：实现高通量天基生物技术 R

• 批准号: 2419674
• 负责人: Olivia Holzhaus
• 金额: $ 27.4万
• 依托单位: Rhodium Scientific, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2419674&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Space; Biobank; Enabling

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project establishing a space biobank represents a direct and real expansion of space access to a broader customer base, enhancing the scale and scope of commercial space markets. The low Earth orbit (LEO) environment has been shown to be a unique testbed to discover and develop novel drugs, therapies, and nutraceuticals. As biology adapts to space, changes in physiology can provide scientists with new drug targets and secondary metabolites. In addition, physiological studies conducted on astronauts have generated high-value datasets capable of supporting a variety of aging related initiatives. These studies support the use of the LEO environment for the development of therapies treating cognitive function loss, cardiac health reduction, muscle atrophy, and bone loss. Past results from space-based R&D indicate that by enabling more biotech missions, society stands to benefit from breakthroughs in agriculture, regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and biomanufacturing. Space Biobank will become the platform that enables on-orbit discovery and scalable production through reliable access to this unique biological and physical environment.This SBIR Phase I project will develop a space biobank, the first repository for microbial species produced from and optimized for the space environment. This initiative aims to democratize space-based research by facilitating broader community engagement. Unlike the well-established engineering standards within the space industry, biological standardization for organisms and scientific processes is lacking. The space biobank addresses this gap, enabling teams to streamline pre-flight development, conduct experiments using space-flown strains, and enhance mission comparability. The PI’s company has operated a dozen ISS missions focused on both growth and production through targeted biomanufacturing and bioprospecting/drug discovery missions. The resulting strains and those developed for and on future missions will be made available to the biotech market through the space biobank. A suite of postflight characterizations will determine metabolic and functional modifications observed in the space environment prior to inclusion in the space biobank. Overall, the key benefits of the space biobank include 1) a significant reduction in mission development timelines; 2) a source of flight-adapted and proven biological samples to de-risk mission objectives; 3) a global mechanism for scientists to engage in space-derived experiments; and 4) a central repository for all space-flown microbial samples.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力建立了太空生物库，这代表了空间访问更广泛的客户群的直接而真正的扩展，从而增强了商业太空市场的规模和范围。低地球轨道（LEO）环境已被证明是一种独特的测试床，可发现和开发新颖的药物，疗法和营养素。随着生物学适应空间，生理学的变化可以为科学家提供新的药物靶标和继发代谢物。此外，对宇航员进行的生理研究已经产生了能够支持各种与衰老相关的计划的高价值数据集。这些研究支持使用LEO环境来开发治疗认知功能丧失，减少心脏健康，肌肉萎缩和骨质流失的疗法。空间研发的过去结果表明，通过实现更多生物技术任务，社会将受益于一致，再生医学，药物发现和生物制造的突破。太空生物库将成为通过可靠地访问这种独特的生物学和物理环境来实现轨道发现和可扩展生产的平台。这个SBIR I期项目将开发一个太空生物库，这是第一个由空间环境生产并优化的微生物物种的存储库。倡议旨在通过支持广播公司社区参与来使基于空间的研究民主化。与空间行业中公认的工程标准不同，有机体和科学过程的生物标准化缺乏。太空生物库解决了这一差距，使团队能够简化飞行前的开发，使用太空型菌株进行实验，并增强任务可比性。 PI的公司通过有针对性的生物制造和生物培训/药物发现任务运行了十几个ISS任务，重点介绍了增长和生产。由此产生的应变以及为未来任务和未来任务开发的压力将通过太空生物库提供给生物技术市场。一组后飞行的字符将确定在纳入太空生物库之前在空间环境中观察到的代谢和功能修饰。总体而言，太空生物库的主要好处包括1）大幅度减少任务发展时间表； 2）适应飞行和经过证明的生物样品的来源，以实现脱离风险的任务目标； 3）科学家进行太空衍生实验的全球机制； 4）所有空间厚实的微生物样品的中央存储库。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准被认为是通过评估来获得的支持。