Future Biotechnology Research on the International Space Station (2000) / Chapter Skim
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3 Selection and Outreach
3 Selection and Outreach
Pages 38-47
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From page 38... ...
For applications proposing flight experiments or flight hardware development, NASA staff convene a second level of review to focus specifically on issues related to the design of experiments for space. Once approved, groundbased research grants are monitored on an annual basis by NASA' s program personnel at the Marshall and Johnson Space Flight Centers; each project submits an annual report and a list of publications, and the investigators jointly attend and present results at a NASA-organized meeting.
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From page 39... ...
This publicity often leads to misconceptions about NASA's goals (the cell science program does not aim to grow artificial human organs in space) or accomplishments (the protein crystal growth work has not produced a new flu vaccine)
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From page 40... ...
From the presentations to the task group and the latest NRA, it is clear that NASA is actually interested in a broader program in cell science and in moving beyond the qualitative phase of observational science in tissue constructs to probe the underlying biological and engineering questions. NASA personnel have attended the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, the general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, the Congress on In Vitro Biology, NASA/Juvenile Diabetes Foundation technology workshops, and the Space Technology and Applications international forum.
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From page 41... ...
for a program-wide evaluation of NASA protein crystal growth or cell science work by the community is that sometimes NASA personnel are not in contact with all of the right people in all of the right fields. Expanding the groups represented on NASA advisory panels should help resolve this issue.
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From page 42... ...
One element that may help to broaden the community involved in space-based biotechnology research is the international nature of the ISS. In addition to the facilities described in this report, an array of protein crystal growth and cell science equipment is being developed for the ISS by NASA's international partners, specifically by the European Space Agency and by the National Space Development Agency of Japan.3 While one country's space agency will not directly fund foreign researchers, bilateral interagency agreements to share hardware are possible, and international announcements of opportunity are planned.
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From page 43... ...
To attract the best investigators to its biotechnology program, NASA must create an environment geared toward maximizing their ability to perform successful experiments. PROTEIN CRYSTAL GROWTH The Guest Investigator Program In addition to NRAs and hardware development grants, the NASA protein crystal growth program created a guest investigator program to involve external investigators in flight experiments.
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From page 44... ...
Hardware developers should still be given some flexibility and allowed input into some of the samples that are flown while the equipment is on testing flights, but in general control over which protein crystallization efforts are flown should be centralized at NASA, where a peer-review process should be emnloved to build a coherent program with clear strategic goals. Funding Research on Biologically Challenging Problems The focus of the NASA program should be on demonstrating microgravity' s effect on protein crystal growth.
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From page 45... ...
Recommendation: NASA shouldfund a series of high-profile grants to support research that uses microgravity to produce crystals of macromolecular assemblies with important implications for cutting-edge biology problems. The success or failure of these research efforts would definitively resolve the issue of whether the microgravity environment can be a valuable toolfor researchers and would determine the future of the NASA protein crystal growth program.
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From page 46... ...
The first steps include determining methodologies that can distinguish between the effects of microgravity on cells and on the cell culture environments and adapting innovative analytical equipment and culture instrumentation for space use. When enough information and appropriate technologies have been gathered to define specific areas in cell biology in which NASA's "big breakthrough" might occur, the NASA cell science program might consider launching a special program of significant grants similar to the one described in the section "Funding Research on Biologically Challenging Problems" from the protein crystal growth section of this chapter.
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From page 47... ...
In the future, decision-making processes should be more flexible to accommodate the needs of biotechnology researchers. The research community would be reassured by seeing NASA place bioengineers and biological scientists with the appropriate appreciation of research goals and scientifically oriented reflex responses in high enough decision-making positions to ensure that research opportunities are optimally utilized.
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