D E PA R T M E N T
H I G H L I G H T
Chemistry For humanity to push the boundaries of space
PAU L
G A B R I E L S E N
know that plants are able to produce anti-viral and anti-
cancer antibodies on a large scale.”
of preparing for plant growth studies on the moon, and is a
technology development step towards that goal.
Synthetic biology is already established on Earth.
The plant cube was designed with the forward vision
But translating that same technology to spaceflight
to need plants to come
requires different considerations. Hammond and her
to show successful protein production. The results from
along for the ride. Not
team encountered many of these constraints when
the team, including collaborators from NASA Ames and
adapting their experiment to operate within the small
International Space University, were published this year.
(10cm by 10cm) CubeSat enclosure .
space, and Hammond appreciates the many hours of work
though—plants can do so much more than just feed us.
8
B Y
exploration, we’re going
just spinach or potatoes,
Ming Hammond The Future of Space Travel
“There’s a lot of promise, potential and hope that we
For spaceflight, the team decided to engineer plants
The entire experiment took 10 days and appeared
It takes a lot of time and effort to put equipment in
to change color as they produced the target protein, and
that the team has put in. “We are a small but dedicated
can use the tools developed in synthetic biology to solve
monitor the progress with a camera. It’s an elegant and
group of volunteers,” she said. “People worked nonstop to
problems.” says Chemistry Professor Ming Hammond, “not
innovative solution, based on a previously published
fix last-minute things that came up before launch. I’m just
just that you would find in space, but where you have
method, but adapted for the constraints of a cube in space.
really proud of the effort everyone’s put in.”
extreme limitation of resources.”
in the most carefully controlled conditions,” Hammond
Kennedy Space Center to watch the Dec. 5, 2019 launch
systems. In this case, the team is looking at plants as
said, “and get it to work under very harsh and challenging
of her experiment, which was nestled within a SpaceX
potential bio-factories. Every organism naturally produces
conditions inside the plant cube.”
Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International
Synthetic biology is a field that engineers biological
“We had to take something that worked beautifully
Hammond and her family traveled to the NASA
countless proteins as part of its biological function, so why
Space Station. “At the launch of my experiment, we had
not engineer a plant to produce, say, a needed medication
a chance to see Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the two
or a polymer that could be useful in future long-term
astronauts that flew the first manned SpaceX flight on
space exploration missions?
May 30, 2020,” she said. “It was an amazing opportunity
to share the launch with my son, (6 years old at the time),
“The benefit is that you can take seeds with you,”
Hammond said. “They’re very lightweight. They grow and
and other family members. Of all the things I’ve done in
gain biomass using the CO2 that we breathe out. And
science this, for them, is the one that probably inspires
if those plants can produce proteins on demand—we
the most interest and awe.” Yadvender Dhillon, Rebekah Kitto, Ming Hammond, James Bevington
