Design of a modular controlled unit for the study of bioprocesses: Towards solutions for Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in space.

Autor: Metelli G; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy; University of Tuscia, DAFNE - Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, Viterbo, Italy., Lampazzi E; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy., Pagliarello R; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy; University of Tuscia, DAFNE - Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, Viterbo, Italy., Garegnani M; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy; DAER - Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico of Milano, Milano, Italy., Nardi L; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy., Calvitti M; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy., Gugliermetti L; Sapienza University of Rome, CITERA - Interdepartmental research Center for Territory, Building, Environment and Restoration, Rome, Italy., Restivo Alessi R; Sapienza University of Rome, DIAEE-Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering, Rome, Italy., Benvenuto E; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy., Desiderio A; ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Biotechnology and Agro-Industry Division, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: angiola.desiderio@enea.it.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Life sciences in space research [Life Sci Space Res (Amst)] 2023 Feb; Vol. 36, pp. 8-17. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Oct 28.
DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2022.10.006
Abstrakt: Space exploration beyond the Low Earth Orbit requires the establishment of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSSs), which, through bioprocesses for primary resource recycling, ensure crew survival. However, the introduction of new organisms in confined space habitats must be carefully evaluated in advance to avoid unforeseen events that could compromise the mission. In this work, we have designed and built an experimental chamber, named Growing/Rearing Module (GRM), completely isolated and equipped with micro-environmental monitoring and control systems. This unit is specially intended for the study of single bioprocesses, which can be composed to design functional BLSSs. GRM can be implemented with specific devices for the biological system under study and the control of environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, lighting and if required, pressure of gaseous components. GRM was validated in experiments of both microgreen cultivation, as a source of fresh food for astronauts, and rearing of the decomposer insect Hermetia illucens for bioconversion of organic waste. During the study of each bioprocess, the environmental and biological data were recorded, allowing to make preliminary assessments of the system efficiency. The GRM, as a completely confined environment, represents the first self-consistent unit that allows to fine-tune the optimal parameters for the operability of different bioprocesses. Furthermore, the upgradability according to the mission needs and the functional integrability of modules differently equipped are the keys to GRM versatility, representing a valuable tool for BLSSs' design.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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