Tech Will Let Astronauts Test Alien DNA During Mission To Mars

A new method for identifying the DNA of microbes could be in the toolkits of astronauts exploring alien worlds like Mars.

The technique is designed to allow the astronauts to identify microorganisms on the spot, rather than waiting as long as it would take to lug a sample all the way back to Earth and test it there. Astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is also a biochemist, tested it aboard the International Space Station before she returned to the ground a few months ago, collecting microbes from surfaces on the ISS into petri dishes and then moving the colonies into small test tubes for processing. It sounds simple enough, but NASA said that was the first time such a transfer had ever happened in space.

Whitson was working with the Microgravity Science Glovebox facility on the ISS, a sealed-off environment in which astronauts can perform experiments of sensitive materials using gloves.

From there, she sequenced the genetic material of the microbes using existing DNA sequencing technology so that the species could be identified. The astronaut shared the data with her Earthbound colleagues.

“Right away, we saw one microorganism pop up, and then a second one, and they were things that we find all the time on the space station,” Sarah Wallace, a researcher on the Genes in Space-3 project, said in the NASA statement. “The validation of these results would be when we got the sample back to test on Earth.”

Additional tests performed when Whitson hauled her samples back to Earth with her confirmed the findings.

Although space may sound like a sterile environment, the International Space Station is crawling with microbes, carried up there on the bodies of the astronauts who have lived on the orbiting station as well as on equipment and supplies sent to them. Recent research identified more than 12,500 different microbe species from swabs taken aboard the ISS.

Other research has shown that space habitats may contain fungi that could potentially infect humans.

According to NASA, the new method of analyzing DNA to identify microbes in space could help in the search for extraterrestrial life and to solve astronaut health challenges.

“The ability to identify microbes in space could aid in the ability to diagnose and treat astronaut ailments in real time, as well as assisting in the identification of DNA-based life on other planets,” the space agency said.

Astronauts may be able to use the tech during a mission to Mars.

“Durations for Mars missions are likely to range from 1.5 to 3 years, with 12 to 24 months of that time spent in transit between the planets, based on current propulsion technologies and planetary orbital dynamics,” according to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. “Considering the time required to reach Mars, intervention from Earth during the course of a Mars mission will be limited to electronic communication, meaning that any analyses or monitoring to be performed must be done in situ.”