![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Rubins-DNA.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen the S.S. J.R. Thompson (OA-9E) Cygnus arrived at the International Space Station last month, it brought with it the Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology, or BEST, experiment that will aim to demonstrate the ability to perform in-situ identification of microbes onboard the International Space Station, study mutation rates over time in bacterial genomes, and perform the first-ever sequencing of RNA, ribonucleic acid, in space.<\/p>\n
Speaking in an exclusive interview to Chris Gebhardt of NASASpaceflight, Principal Investigator for BEST, Dr. Sarah Wallace, and co-investigator Dr. Kristen John related the background and aspirations for the project \u2013 which in many ways is a carry-on of capability demonstration from the highly successful Biomolecule Sequencer Project and Genes In Space-3 experiments.<\/p>\n
In fact, the core team of four scientists from the Biomolecule Sequencer Project and Genes In Space-3 are the same for the BEST experiment, with Dr. Sarah Wallace serving as Principal Investigator joined by co-investigators Dr. Aaron Burton, Dr. Kristen John, and Sarah Stahl. In addition, for the BEST experiments, Dr. Mark Akeson, Dr. Miten Jain, and Dr. Benedict Paten from the University of California Santa Cruz joined the team, with their expertise is allowing for more science to be completed.<\/p>\n
Background \u2013 success of DNA sequencing in space:<\/b><\/p>\n
BEST is \u2013 in part \u2013 made possible due to the success the core team of four scientists has had in demonstrating the ability to sequence DNA and identify microbial life forms from pre-packaged and on-orbit prepared samples launched to the International Space Station on both SpaceX Dragon and Orbital ATK Cygnus vehicles over the last two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first experiment, Biomolecule Sequencer, was really just [looking at] does the sequencer work in space?\u201d related Dr. Wallace. For the Biomolecule Sequencer Project, the team prepared samples on the ground ahead of time with Dr. Kate Rubins then performing the sequencing runs on Station using the MinION nanopore DNA sequencer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr. Kate Rubins, seen with the in-situ results of one of the first DNA sequencing runs performed in space. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time we were flying [the Biomolecule Sequencer experiment], our team received funding to develop the sample prep process to go along with the [MinION] sequencer so that we could actually prep samples in space, and that\u2019s what Genes in Space-3 was \u2013 to show that we could indeed take a raw sample, either launched from the ground or microbes collected from and cultured on the Station and go all the way from sample to answer with the sequencer in space.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this way, each of the experiments, from Biomolecule Sequencer to Genes In Space-3 to BEST build upon the previous, with each experiment introducing more capabilities to demonstrate what the sequencing technology can do in space.<\/p>\n
Spaceflight history books (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The Biomolecule Sequencer Project proved in 2016 that sequencing DNA was indeed possible in space \u2013 and is actually better than or the same as DNA sequencing performed on the ground. \u201cThe simple answer is that everything was better than or equal to what we see on the ground in terms of everything, including error rate, the speed at which the molecules go through the nanopores, the quality scores,\u201d related Dr. Wallace.<\/p>\n \u201cAny kind of metric that we could look at, it was equal to or better than Earth. And so that was really exciting because we found that there was no negative effect of sequencing in space, and we found that we were always getting more data from the spaceflight runs. And that carries through to today.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that the team was able to get more data in the DNA sequencing performed in space raised all sorts of questions and proposed hypotheses as to why space-based DNA sequencing provided more information than ground-based sequencing. Nevertheless, subsequent DNA sequencing runs on the Station have shown that this greater data collection is not a fluke but in fact the apparent baseline \u2013 as each DNA sequencing run since the initial test has returned more data than its ground-based comparison runs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n