IISc., ISRO develop device to conduct microbial experiments in outer space

The device developed by the team uses an LED and photodiode sensor combination to track bacterial growth

What happens to microbes in outer space? Will their behaviour patterns in such an extreme environment give us insight to help future space missions? With these questions in mind, a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have developed a modular, self-contained device to cultivate microorganisms. This could enable scientists to carry out biological experiments in outer space, said IISc. via a press release. In a paper published in the peer reviewed journal Acta Astronautica, the team showed how the device can be used to activate and track the growth of bacterium ‘Sporosarcina pasteurii’ over several days, with minimal human involvement. “Understanding how such microbes behave in extreme environments could provide valuable insight for human space missions such as ‘Gaganyaan’, India’s first crewed spacecraft set to be launched in 2022,” stated the release. The study of microbes in extreme conditions is a growing field. “In recent years, scientists have been increasingly exploring the use of lab-on-chip platforms ‒ which combine many analyses into a single integrated chip ‒ for such experiments,” they said in the release. However, designing such platforms to function effectively in outer space poses additional challenges as conditions are vastly different from lab settings.