Research Database

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a genetic editing scientific technique that can be used to increase, decrease, insert or remove genes from organisms. Exploring its application in plants could be helpful for understanding plants' stress responses in microgravity that could translate to improved agricultural practices on Earth, in space, or or other terrestrial bodies on exploration missions. In this TÜBİTAK UZAY-sponsored project "Extreme Salt Stress and CRISPR Gene Editing Efficiency in Plants Under Microgravity" (Extremophyte CRISPR), researchers will investigate the down regulation via the CRISPR technique of three genes involved in the stress response of Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress, a member of the mustard family). The second aim will evaluate the salt stress tolerance of two plants - one salt-sensitive and one salt-tolerant - that will be germinated and grown in the International Space Station. This work builds on previous microgravity investigations showing how microgravity affects the growth, movement and genetics of this plant, and could provide valuable insights into plant adaptation to extreme environments and help develop more resilient crops for agriculture.

Fluidic Space Optics (Ax-1) during the private astronaut mission (PAM) Axiom-1 (Ax-1) studies liquid behavior in microgravity. It examines how this environment affects deployment and solidification of liquid polymers into optical components, serving as a proof of concept for large scale liquid space telescopes. The investigation also provides an educational demonstration of the physics of fluid mechanics in microgravity.

Cuisine in space is important not just for nutritional purposes but also as a way to improve astronauts' quality of life. In this project from Italian food company Barilla, crew will document their experience with food in space and complete questionnaires. The goal is to create a “user journey” that will improve the experience of eating food in space.

The Italian company GVM is creating a telemedicine platform that could be used in the future to monitor and manage the health of astronauts before, during, and after human spaceflight missions. This ground-based study will investigate the cardiovascular physiology and health of the crew before and after the Ax3 mission and will simulate on-orbit video consultations. The team will collect and monitor data from wearable devices and a health app before and after flight. The platform is being developed to gain a thorough understanding of astronaut health and enable medical advice and treatment discussions with the crew.