Experiment of a Lifetime for Trio

Oct 07, 09:00 PM

Current Headlines: By Zulita Mustafa

PERFORMING life sciences experiments in space is a rare opportunity for any Malaysian scientist but thanks to the first Angkasawan programme, the opportunity is now available.

Three experiments have been short-listed from 50 experiments submitted by the nation's universities and these will be conducted in space by the first Malaysian astronaut. They are cells, microbes and protein crystallisation experiments in space.

Heading the cells experiments is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Molecular Biology Institute director Prof Dr A. Rahman Jamal, while its principal fellow/senior consultant microbiologist Prof Dr Ramelah Mohamed is in charge of the experiments on microbes.

The protein crystallisation project is headed by Universiti Putra Malaysia deputy dean (research & graduate studies) Prof Dr Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd Rahman.

"Besides having to address the rationale of sending an experiment to space, other challenges we face are limitations in the International Space Station in terms of space, lab equipment, crew time and ideal experimental conditions," says A. Rahman.

The overriding concern is to make discoveries that will have a major impact on medicine, treatment technology and help develop new industries.

There are also the issue of specialised hardware, safety issues, documentation, engineering and logistics.

On the impact and spin-offs from the experiments, A. Rahman says it will be a rare opportunity for Malaysian scientists to learn, design and carry out experiments in space.

They will conduct research collaboration with top US and Russian scientists.

A. Rahman explains that space provides the unique condition for microgravity and space radiation.

Microgravity has an impact on various organisms and biological systems, in which cells become spherical and affects various physiological processes.

He says bacteria also grow faster and may become more virulent while protein crystals become purer because of the lack of gravity.

The tool for his experiment involved simple special test tubes called the fluid processing apparatus (FPA).

The apparatus has three levels of containment, including three chambers to be filled with cells/bacteria, medium as nutrient for the cells and fixatives.

The experiments will be loaded into the flight hardware two days before take off and examined for leakages before being packed into a special bag.

The mission involves unloading the FPAs into the incubator for incubation at 37C for optimal growth of cells.

On the third flight day, the astronaut will activate the experiment by pushing the plunger to add the medium into the cells/ bacteria. On the sixth day, he will terminate the experiment by adding the fixative to the cells/bacteria suspension.

The astronaut will activate the crystal growth experiments by rotating the protein chamber and conduct daily status checks.

"The experiments, together with the astronauts, will return to Kazakhstan. Speed is important because of the need to control temperature, and the load has to be handled with care. The experiments will be transported to Malaysia for analysis."

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