Synthetic biology answer to cheaper manned space missions

Synthetic biology can make manned space exploration to Mars a cost-saving and reliable experience, scientists report.

"Not only does synthetic biology promise to make the travel to extra-terrestrial locations more practical and bearable, it could also be transformative once explorers arrive at their destination," said Adam Arkin, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (Berkeley Lab) Physical Biosciences Division (PBD).

Berkeley Lab researchers have used synthetic biology to produce a reliable microbial-based alternative to the world's most effective anti-malaria drug and to develop clean, green and sustainable alternatives to gasoline, diesel and jet fuels.

During a manned space flight, the ability to augment fuel and other energy needs to provide small amounts of needed materials - plus renewable, nutritional and taste-engineered food and drugs-on-demand - can save costs and increase astronauts' health and welfare.

"Because synthetic biology allows us to engineer biological processes to our advantage, we found in our analysis that technologies, when using common space metrics such as mass, power and volume, have the potential to provide substantial cost savings, especially in mass," researchers noted.

In their study, the authors looked at four target areas: fuel generation, food production, biopolymer synthesis and pharmaceutical manufacture.

They showed that for a 916-day manned mission to Mars, the use of microbial bio-manufacturing capabilities could reduce the mass of fuel manufacturing by 56 percent, the mass of food shipments by 38 percent, and the shipped mass to 3D-print a habitat for six by a whopping 85 percent.

In addition, microbes could also completely replenish expired or irradiated stocks of pharmaceuticals which would provide independence from unmanned re-supply spacecraft that take up to 210 days to arrive.

"Space has always provided a wonderful test of whether technology can meet strict engineering standards for both effect and safety," Arkin concluded.

The paper appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society.