Results for “bioproducts industry”

NASA NTRS2006

Replaceable Sensor System for Bioreactor Monitoring

A sensor system was proposed that would monitor spaceflight bioreactor parameters. Not only will this technology be invaluable in the space program for which it was developed, it will find applications in medical science and industrial laboratories as well. Using frequency-domain-based fluorescence lifetime technology, the sensor system will be able to detect changes in fluorescence lifetime quenching that results from displacement of fluorophorelabeled receptors bound to target ligands. This device will be used to monitor and regulate bioreactor parameters including glucose, pH, oxygen pressure (pO2), and carbon dioxide pressure (pCO2). Moreover, these biosensor fluorophore receptor-quenching complexes can be designed to further detect and monitor for potential biohazards, bioproducts, or bioimpurities. Biosensors used to detect biological fluid constituents have already been developed that employ a number of strategies, including invasive microelectrodes (e.g., dark electrodes), optical techniques including fluorescence, and membrane permeable systems based on osmotic pressure. Yet the longevity of any of these sensors does not meet the demands of extended use in spacecraft habitat or bioreactor monitoring. It was therefore necessary to develop a sensor platform that could determine not only fluid variables such as glucose concentration, pO2, pCO2, and pH but can also regulate these fluid variables with controlled feedback loop.

Mayo, Mike↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Bioreactor Development for CO2-Based In Situ Resource Utilization Manufacturing

Sustainable long-duration manned missions on both the Moon and Mars will require in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Carbon dioxide (CO2) has great potential as a harvestable resource, making up 95% of the atmosphere on Mars and being produced as respiratory waste in spacecraft and future planetary habitats. Through ISRU, biomanufacturing has the capability to produce a near limitless array of products from local space resources, which include pharmaceuticals, bioplastics, chemical feedstocks, and industrial enzymes. Here, a CO2-based ISRU recombinant protein bioreactor and associated biomanufacturing organisms were designed to produce a highly stable carbonic anhydrase (CA). Initial work characterized candidate organisms for growth on acetate and formic acid, carbon substrates that can be synthesized via electrochemical conversion of CO2. To improve growth on the CO2 producing substrate formic acid and for direct integration of ISRU CO2, a synthetic Calvin-Benson-Bassam cycle was designed for use in Cyberlindnera jadinii and Escherichia coli. Genetic modifications in E. coli will be facilitated by a tailored CRISPR/Cas9 and λ red recombineering two-vector system. For expression of CA, a blue light regulated T7 promoter was employed for dynamic and small molecule free induction. Efficient bioproduction through a fed-batch exponential feeding strategy was determined via mass balance calculations from ISRU substrates to biomass and CA yield. Flux balance analysis was used to model ISRU substrate metabolism and metabolic pathway engineering in candidate organisms under cultivation strategy conditions for both metabolism reconstruction and pathway design optimization. Finally, a small-scale, disposable bag bioreactor concept for use in the NASA Bioculture System infrastructure was designed to enable CO2-based CA production in reduced-gravity environments.

Biomanufacturing, Pathway Engineering, Flux Balanc↗