With a microscope and computer monitor, researchers at NASA’s Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., watch fluorescent bacteria
flow through tiny, fluid highways on a dime-sized lab on a chip.
Lab-on-a-chip technology allows chemical and biological processes —
previously conducted on large pieces of laboratory equipment — to be
performed on a small glass plate with fluid channels, known to
scientists as microfluidic capillaries.
“We are studying how lab-on-a-chip technology can be used for new tools
to detect bacteria and life forms on Earth and other planets and for
protecting astronauts by monitoring crew health and detecting microbes
and contaminants in spacecraft,” explains Dr. Helen Cole, project
manager for the Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development program.
The chips are made with the same micro-fabrication technique used to
print circuits on computer chips. Chemicals and fluid samples can be
mixed, diluted, separated, and controlled using channels or electrical
circuits embedded in the chip. On Earth, some basic lab-on-a-chip
technology approaches are being used for commercial, medical diagnostic
applications, such as an in-office test for strep throat, or modern
in-home pregnancy tests. These applications conduct a test and yield
results in a short time, with a hand-held portable device containing a
simple chip design.
“NASA requires complex lab-on-a-chip technology, so scientists can
conduct multiple chemical and biological assays or perform many
processes on a single chip,” says Cole. “Current commercial devices are
not designed to work in space, so we are developing a set of unique
chips along with a corresponding miniaturized controller and analysis
unit.
NASA researchers are developing complex, portable microarray diagnostic
chips to test for all the genes and DNA responsible for determining the
traits of a particular organism, detect specific types of organisms, or
use biosensor-like probes such as antibodies to detect molecules of
interest. By applying this technology in laboratories and in the field
where organisms live in extreme environments on Earth, astrobiologists
can compare Earth-life with that which may be found on other planets.
“The micro array chip system developed to go to Mars will be
lightweight, portable and capable of detecting organic molecules,” says
Dr. Lisa Monaco, the project scientist for the Lab-on-a-Chip
Applications Development program. “This instrumentation can easily be
adapted for monitoring crew health and their environment.”
Since the chips are small, a large number of them can be carried on a
Mars rover to search for life or on carried on long-duration human
exploration missions for monitoring microbes inside lunar or Martian
habitats.
“We need customized microarray chips to find and characterize life at
remote places on Earth, Mars, and other places in the solar system,”
says Dr. Andrew Steele, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, a private research organization. Steele, the principal
investigator for the Modular Assays for Solar System Exploration
(MASSE) project, is working with Marshall scientists and engineers to
develop the technology and instruments needed to analyze samples
quickly and produce images of samples.
“When astrobiologists study life in extreme environments – whether it
lives deep in the ocean, in Antarctica, or on Mars – they need a
handheld device or something that can fit on a small robot,” Steele
explains. “We also need to be able to analyze the tests as quickly as
possible within periods from 1 to 24 hours. Marshall is one of just a
few places in the world developing these specific technologies for
space and exploration applications and has unique experience in
miniaturizing these instruments and designing them for the harsh space
environment.”
The Marshall Center team is collaborating with scientists at other NASA
centers and at universities to design chips for many applications, such
as studying how fluidic systems work in spacecraft and identifying
microbes in self-contained life support systems. To make customized
chips for these various applications, NASA has an agreement with the
U.S. Army’s Microdevices and Microfabrication Laboratory at Redstone
Arsenal in Huntsville. The lab-on-a-chip research is funded by NASA’s
Biological and Physical Research Enterprise through the Marshall
Center’s Microgravity Science and Applications Division.
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