Out of this world: UK tech in space

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 [ISS’s] water is recycled and that’s from urine, condensate, sweat, everything,” microbiologist Sarah Wallace, manager of the sequencing project, told Gizmodo. “Is it being processed to where it’s 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.

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