Out of this world: UK tech in space

When NASA blasted off to the International Space Station on Monday morning, it had UK tech on board. A miniature DNA sequencer from Oxford Nanopore will be used to keep an eye on the ISS atmosphere - and may even analyse alien DNA one day.

On Monday, a SpaceX cargo rocket launched from Florida to replenish stocks on the International Space Station. Among the payload of mostly food and supplies was a MinION DNA sequencer, developed by Oxford Nanopore. MinION is a pocket-sized portable device used for real-time biological analysis. It is adaptable to the analysis of DNA, RNA, or proteins and allows end-to-end experiments in many environments.

With the device, the astronauts will monitor their health as well as the environment on board the space station. All the [ISSs] water is recycled and thats from urine, condensate, sweat, everything, microbiologist Sarah Wallace, manager of the sequencing project, told Gizmodo. Is it being processed to where its microbially clean? We want to know in a more real-time way is that water processor working.

But the sequencer could server another, more futuristic purpose in the future: it might come in handy when searching for alien life. Real-time DNA sequencing […] could be integrated into scientific investigations aboard the station and, in the future, analyse DNA-based life that may be found on other worlds, NASA stated.

18 July 2016