Designing a space bioprocessing system to produce recombinant proteins

Biomanufacturing based in space can improve the sustainability of deep space exploration. Bioprocessing systems to advance biomanufacturing for space applications need to be developed. In a new report now published in npj ...
The team described three designs that differed in biomass dewatering and purification approaches. Values from system complexity metric, technology readiness level, and integration readiness level identified a bioprocessing system design that minimized complexity and enabled versatility.

Carbon capture technology for space missions

Liquid amine scrubbing provides a mature post-combination carbon capture technology on Earth as a promising approach to scrub CO2 produced during crewed space missions. The thermal amine scrubber on the International Space Station provides one of the three candidate methods to remove CO2 and function in . In its mechanisms of action, cabin air with elevated levels of CO2 is passed across an organic liquid amine, which is absorbed the carbamate or bicarbonate, depending on the solvent.
Long duration space missions close to Earth require a time-course supply of carbonic anhydrase that can be met through resupply and long-term storage. This option isn't viable for Mars space missions, however. While space biomanufacturing systems can produce enzymes and other biological materials during Mars space missions, space systems must minimize the costs including crew time, while facilitating astronaut safety to address the effects of increased radiation and reduced gravity.

Biomanufacturing methods in space

Research on preceding space biomanufacturing methods have focused on large-scale mission design and microbial growth kinetics, as well as bioreactor designs. In this new work, Soundararajan and the team compared commercial methods and potential designs for in-space biomanufacturing.

Flow diagram of potential bioprocessing strategies. Dashed boxes group the primary sub-processes of biomass processing, protein extraction, and product storage. Solid boxes give individual steps with bulleted lists of common methods to complete the step. Lettered arrows (a, b, c, d, e) give examples of possible workflows for processing E. coli cells expressing recombinant carbonic anhydrase. Credit: npj Microgravity (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00324-w
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Bioprocessing system designs integrating selected methods for dewatering, lysis, and purification. (a) Design schematics with the following components: peristaltic pump (1), pinch valve (2), biomass reservoir (3), centrifuge cartridge (4), spent media reservoir (5), disposable bead beater (6), affinity resin reservoir (7), waste reservoir (8), wash buffer (9), elution buffer (10), product reservoir (11), tangential flow filter (12), crude lysate column (13), crude lysate chamber (14), affinity purification cartridge (15), affinity membrane (16), rollers (17). Yellow arrows indicate crew-assisted steps. b Flow diagram comparing the bioprocessing designs. Yellow boxes indicate operations that require crew-assistance to initiate or complete the operation. Credit: npj Microgravity (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00324-w
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Design metrics for the three integrated bioprocessing designs. Credit: npj Microgravity (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00324-w
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