UNSAFE BIOTECHNOLOGY LABORATORY - NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR INJURY - ILLNESS - DISEASE

Penn State Biomodule


The Penn State Biomodule (PSB) payload will test the hypothesis that exposure to near zero gravity (microgravity) can alter microbial gene expression in commercially useful ways. The payload was developed by the Center for Cell Research (CCR), a NASA CCDS based at The Pennsylvania State University, and its commercial partner, Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc. Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc., is located in Davis, California, and is part of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S, a global company with diverse business anchored primarily in biotechnology, serving the health care, industrial and agricultural sectors.


Novo Nordisk Entotech develops bioinsecticides, naturally occurring microbes that produce products that are toxic to certain insects, but are non-toxic to non-target pests, people and the environment. The company is interested in determining if exposure to microgravity can enhance microbial expression, altering the growth, toxin production and potency of these environmentally friendly pest-control agents.


The microbes scheduled to be tested aboard STS-60, Bacillus thuringiensis var. tenebrionis, are known to be specifically effective against the Colorado potato beetle. They will be carried in the Penn State Biomodule which is being used for the first time aboard the Shuttle. The biomodule is a computer-controlled, fluid-transfer, mixing device developed by the Center for Cell Research. It was flight tested and developed aboard the Consort sounding rocket series.


Eight Biomodules, each containing eight microbial samples, will be housed in a sealed containment vessel within a Commercial Refrigeration/Incubation Module (CRIM) located in the middeck. The containment vessel was also designed and developed by the Center for Cell Research in conjunction with Commercial Payloads, Inc., of St. Louis, MO.


In its STS-60 configuration, the Biomodule needs no hands on attention from the astronauts. The device automatically provides dynamic temperature regulation, three levels of liquid containment and the ability to add two different fluids to each sample at different time intervals during the spaceflight.


To accelerate postflight data analyses, the CCR has developed a gel encapsulation procedure for bacteria that enables quick, efficient, automated, identification of microbes that display altered patterns of gene expression. In this technique, individual bacteria are trapped inside tiny (30 micron) gel beads. Using fluorescent markers and a flow cytometer, the researchers can quantify bacterial growth and product formation within each individual bead. In this way, altered bacteria that over- or under-produce insect toxins can be quickly identified, isolated and cultured as part of the postflight analysis.


CCR scientific affiliates Dr. Zane Smilowitz, Penn State professor of entomology, and Dr. William McCarthy, Penn State associate professor of entomology, are co-principal investigators. Penn State graduate student Bryan Severyn, an M.S. candidate in entomology, is assisting them. Dr. Chi-Li Liu, Manager of Microbiology, is Entotech's representative. Dr. William W. Wilfinger is CCR Director of Physiological Testing and principal investigator on the gel encapsulation project. Dr. W. C. Hymer is Director of the Center for Cell Research. Dr. Pamela Marrone is President of Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc.

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-60/sts-60-press-kit.txt