Team:Toulouse INSA-UPS/Human Practices
Human Practices
Welcome to our Human Practices page! Here you will find an Overview of our work followed by the Integrated Human Practices part. It includes both the experts' feedback and an Ethical Matrix for Space implementation.
Overview
Click on the different steps of the Human Practices cycle to learn more about it!
➀ Build on past iGEM success
To build our space project, whether from a technical point of view or at the level of Human Practices, we have relied on projects developed by other iGEM teams in previous years such as:
- AstroShield
Sao Carlos, Brazil, 2019
- AstroPharmacy
Brown-Stanford-Princeton, 2019
- PharMARSy
UCopenhagen, 2018
- AstroPlastic
UCalgary 2017
This combined with the state-of-the-art of the biology work already done in the field of space has been a great help to us. Nevertheless, it required much research time and numerous interviews with experts. Therefore we decided to help future iGEM teams to build their space project with our Contribution document established in collaboration with team iGEM Concordia 2020.
➁ Diversify your team skills
From the very beginning our team has been very diverse. Five of the students in our team come from an engineering school named INSA Toulouse in the field of Biological Engineering, two students study their master's degree in Biotechnology and one student studies a master's degree in Bioinformatics at the University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III. In addition to these diverse fields of expertise, we have called upon numerous experts and supporters to help us throughout our project.
On the other hand, when recruiting the team, a point was made to have as many women as men on the team in order to respect parity. The diversity of nationalities in our team is also to be noted. Out of 8 students, 2 are not of French nationality: Laura is Spanish and Anton Ukrainian. You can find all this on our Attribution page.
➂ Find your context
At the begining we had many different project ideas, and working on space was one of them. But what are the real challenges of space travel for the years to come? How can biology find solutions to these problems? To answer these questions, we initially contacted Mr. Alain Maillet, a physiologist from CNES (French National Center for Space Studies). With him, we were able to list the truly crucial problems to be solved to accomplish long-duration space missions and thus determine our context: nutrition. To learn more about our brainstorming stage click [here].
➃ Brainstorm societal issues linked to your ideas
The success of long-duration space missions involves many challenges, both from a scientific and a societal point of view. The design of a device allowing such trips is thus subject to societal questioning. Our device allows to supplement the astronauts' food supply with minimal use of resources and an almost perfect recycling process. It is designed to have a major impact on the issue of nutrition during long-duration space missions. Our project interested different players in the space industry and even the French Space Agency (CNES) with which we have collaborated. Therefore, they influenced our project, just like many other experts in various fields.
Our project involves having astronauts ingesting vitamin A-enriched yeast, which can be controversial. So we went out to meet the general public, students and the scientific community to explain our project, its ins and outs and all the ethical reflection we conducted alongside our project. Our goal was to gather feedback on our device to adapt it and make it as acceptable and ethical as possible. All the information concerning these steps can be found on the Science communication page.
You will also find below our ethical matrix which allowed us to target the main issues of our project and adapt it accordingly.
➄ Document all your progress
Throughout our Human Practices approach, we have used referenced and characterized methods in order to build our progress on a solid foundation and to implement our actions in the most responsible and good-for-the-world way.
Our ethical study of our project has thus been constructed in the form of an ethical matrix, a concept taken from the article Kermisch, C. Les matrices éthiques au service des technologies à risques. Le cas de la gestion des déchets radioactifs à longue vie, 2016.[1]
On the other hand, we chose to create an educational video game for high school students based on an educational technique called game-based learning, which we had discovered in Liu, M.; Rosenblum, J. A.; Horton, L.; Kang, J. Designing Science Learning with Game-Based Approaches. Computers in the Schools 2014. [2]
We also conducted two surveys, one for our exhibits and one for the Ghanaian population, both of which were conducted in accordance with best practices from Best Practices for Survey Research (accessed 10.17.20). [3]
To follow our progress throught our Human Practices process, you can also check out our Notebook [here]!
Finally, all of our virtual and face-to-face exhibitions have been built with the help of several articles from different journals:
[4]
L. Carter et al., “Status of ISS Water Management and Recovery,” p. 15.
[5]
K. Rainey, “Top 10 Ways ISS Is Helping Get Us To Mars,” NASA, Sep. 15, 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/iss_helps_get_to_mars (accessed Oct. 09, 2020).
[6]
E. Vitug, “Space Synthetic Biology (SynBio),” NASA, Apr. 07, 2020. http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/projects/SynBio (accessed Oct. 13, 2020).
[7]
“104840main_eclss.pdf.” Accessed: Oct. 09, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/pdf/104840main_eclss.pdf.
[8]
“Biologie-A-Z.pdf.” Accessed: Oct. 09, 2020. [Online]. Available: http://www.cvc.universite-paris-saclay.fr/IMG/pdf/Biologie-A-Z.pdf.
[9]
“CLEANING WATER - Student Section,” p. 6.
[10]
“International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.,” p. 236.
[11]
“International Space Station Facilities Research in Space 2017 and Beyond,” p. 57.
[12]
“jsc_benefits_for_humanity_tagged_6-30-15.pdf.” Accessed: Oct. 09, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/jsc_benefits_for_humanity_tagged_6-30-15.pdf. https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Belgium_-_Francais/MELISSA_de_la_recherche_spatiale_utile_sur_la_Terre (accessed Oct. 13, 2020).
[10]
“np-2015-03-016-jsc_rodent-iss-mini-book-508.pdf.” Accessed: Oct. 09, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/np-2015-03-016-jsc_rodent-iss-mini-book-508.pdf.
[11]
“np-2016-06-016-jsc_plant_research_mini_book508c.pdf.” Accessed: Oct. 09, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/np-2016-06-016-jsc_plant_research_mini_book508c.pdf.
➅ Go out of the lab and split up the tasks
In order to build a project as close as possible to the real problems of long-duration space missions, we contacted many experts specialized in the field from the very beginning. It is partly upon their insight that we built our project goal. Thereafter and throughout the competition, we kept meeting experts, scientists, ethicists and potential users to point out the scientific and ethical weaknesses of our project to improve it. They also allowed us to evaluate the feasibility of our device to make it more acceptable, good for the world and efficient.
➆ Adapt your project to what we learned
Collecting scientific feedback and advice is essential, but how to deal with them is an even more important matter. Our approach was as follows:
- Identify why we needed to contact the expert
- Detail the information and knowledge they provided us
- Explore the resulting perspectives for us, as well as the questions they raised for the future
Often the questions raised by our interview with an expert led us to contact other experts to find additional answers. This is how we were able to set up our project in total accordance with the real and current problems of long-duration space missions, including an ethical dimension, a great credibility from a technical point of view and a better acceptability for potential users.
On this last point, it is to be noted the exceptional effort deployed to meet the rare potential users of our device: the astronauts. Indeed, out of the ten French astronauts who went into space, we managed to interview two of them and we also got in touch with French Astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, medical team. You can find out how the experts have influenced our project by scrolling down on this page.
➇ Share your results with iGEM community and beyond
From the beginning, we have been committed to communicate and bring the light on how synthetic biology can play a major role in space exploration by presenting our project in both physical and online scientific events. To reach a broader audience, we diversified our communication supports from conferences to exhibitions, from press articles to video games and so on. This whole strategy, its justifications and results are extensively described on the Science communication page.
Integrated Human Practices
In order to build a project as close as possible to the real problems of long-duration space missions, we contacted many experts specialized in the field from the very beginning of our project. It is partly upon their insight that we built our project goal. Thereafter and throughout the competition, we kept meeting experts, scientists, ethicists and potential users to point out the scientific and ethical weaknesses of our project to improve it. They also allowed us to evaluate the feasibility of our device to make it more acceptable, good for the world and efficient.
Collecting scientific opinions and advice is essential, but how to deal with them is an even more important matter. Our approach was as follows:
- Identify why we needed to contact the expert
- Detail the information and knowledge they provided us
- Explore the resulting perspectives for us as well as the questions they raised for the future
Often the questions raised by our interview with an expert led us to contact other experts to find additional answers. This is how we were able to set up our project in total accordance with the real and current problems of long-duration space missions, including an ethical dimension, a great credibility from a technical point of view and a better acceptability for potential users.
On this last point, it is to be noted the exceptional effort deployed to meet the rare potential users of our device: the astronauts. Indeed, out of the ten French astronauts who went into space, we managed to interview two of them and we also got in touch with French Astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, medical team. You can find out how the experts have influenced our project by scrolling down on this page.
Color code
Steps Click on a circle to go directly to the corresponding step
Loss of nutritional quality of food over time and available resources
Alain Maillet, 02/27/2020
Background
Over time, food loses its nutritional quality. The degradation of vitamins could be a major problem in the perspective of long-distance space missions. What if we made astronauts ingest yeast enriched with vitamins? Yeast is after all a microorganism that we are used to ingest in our daily life. In the station, the resources available are limited. H2 and O2 come from water electrolysis, a process used to produce the O2 necessary for astronauts' breathing. H2O is, on the other hand, subject to a very strict recycling. The CO2 comes from the astronauts' exhalation.
Why was this person contacted?
We contacted Mr. Alain Maillet, expert in human physiology at CNES, when we were still brainstorming about what to focus our project on, and studying the problem of long-duration space missions that could find its solution in microbiology and synthetic biology.
What we have learned?
Mr. Maillet helped us to make the difference between the real challenges to be solved to go in space for long periods of time (bone loss in microgravity, nutrition problems, effect of radiation...) and plenty of other secondary problems. He gave us a lot of information about astronauts nutrition, which allowed us to guide the problematic of our project in this direction. We thus decided to produce nutritional supplements for long-duration space missions.
What questions did it raise for the future?
The remaining question was what creative way could we use to solve this problem, considering the very strict constraints of space shuttles?
Alain Maillet's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
First design of the coculture reactor and associated constraints
Stéphane Guillouet, 02/04/2020
Background
How can a yeast grow on resources that it's not able to assimilate such as H2 and CO2? We answered this question by deciding to implement a coculture between a bacteria and our Yeast. Our bacterium, Clostridium Ljungdahlii, is able to grow on H2 and CO2 and release enough acetate and ethanol to ensure the growth of our Yeast. Acetate and ethanol are resources that can be assimilated by our yeast. It's an idea we had on our own, but to validate the feasibility of this idea, we needed to gather expert opinions.
Why was this person contacted?
To answer our problematic, we had the idea to set up a coculture between two microorganisms. In order to evaluate the feasibility of our idea, we contacted Mr. Stéphane Guillouet, researcher at the TBI (Toulouse Biotechnology Institute).
What we have learned?
First, Mr. Guillouet taught us a lot about the characteristics of the two microorganisms that we wanted to use, particularly about the protein richness of our yeast. On the other hand, he highlighted the major challenges to be solved to succeed in coculture, the constraints to be considered, especially concerning microgravity, recycling and cleaning.
What questions did it raise for the future?
It was Mr. Guillouet who directed us to Mr. Benjamin Erable, to develop our idea of using water electrolysis to supply our system with H2 and O2.
Stéphane Guillouet's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Installation of the electrolyzer
Benjamin Erable, 03/24/2020
Background
As seen previously, H2 and O2 are not directly available resources. They come from the electrolysis of water The electrolysis of water is a process already present in the shuttle to produce the O2 inspired by the astronauts, the H2 produced is for the moment rejected in space, this is why it is interesting for us to use it. It is for this reason that we decided to integrate an electrolyzer in our device. Mr. Erable's help was invaluable to us in this endeavour.
Why was this person contacted?
Mr Erable is a specialist in electroactive biofilms. We needed to have an opinion on our project of coculture especially on the feasibility of the electrosynthesis and on the viability of the overall system.
What we have learned?
Thanks to the expertise of Mr Erable, we learned that electrosynthesis consists of two phases, water electrolysis and the constraints behind dihydrogen supply. He also advised us which type of electrolyzer we should take and which membranes to use. Benjamin Erable taught us that a reactor subjected to microgravity must not have a gaseous sky. To avoid this phenomenon, we decided to use hollow fiber membranes to diffuse the gases in our medium. The idea of size-separating membranes came from Mr Erable as well. This meeting brings us to a deeper reflection on the overall layout of the system and more precisely on our summer experiments.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Then we contacted Mr Cockx, a specialist in gas transfer to have a better understanding of the hollow fiber membrane.
Benjamin Erable's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Optogenetics, a regulation method adapted to the constraints of the space shuttle
Gilles Truan, 04/23/2020
Background
To make our yeast differentially produce one taste or another without having to add anything in the environment was a real problem. Indeed, since our main goal was to use the least amount of resources possible and to limit the astronauts' handling time as much as possible, it was not feasible to ask them to add a compound to the medium to induce induction. That's how the idea of using photo induction for our project was born.
Why was this person contacted?
Mr. Truan has worked a lot with logic gates systems and optogenetics regulations. As we needed to find a way to express one taste or another in our yeast, his help was very welcomed. We wanted our yeast to make at least 3 combinations (no taste, one or the other), and we wanted to do so without the help of any outside compounds, as this would impair our goal of using the available resources aboard a spaceship.
What we have learned?
Gilles Truan told us that optogenetics systems are great candidates for our needs. These systems are activated at certain light wavelengths, and induce the expression of the gene(s) of interest. To control the expression of the genes modifying the yeast taste, we would only need to expose the cells to those particular wavelengths. Gilles Truan had already worked with two different types of optogenetics regulation:
- EL222 which is a blue light-activated system regularly used at iGEM and perfectly working in Gilles’ team in yeast.
- Phy-PIF which is a red light-activated system coming from plants that has been increasingly studied in the last ten years. Unfortunately, his team did not successfully implement it in their yeast.
What questions did it raise for the future?
This quite important interview resulted on our current regulation system for controlling taste, which uses EL222 for blue light control, and PhyA-FHY1[1][2], a variation of Phy-PIF which seemed to yield better results in yeast according to the literature and which does not need the addition of a chromophore in the medium.
[1] Arabidopsis Transcription Factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 Plays a Role in the Feedback Regulation of Phytochrome A Signaling, Jigang Li, et al., The Plant Cell, Vol. 22: 3634–3649, November 2010
[2] Sorokina, O., Kapus, A., Terecskei, K. et al. A switchable light-input, light-output system modelled and constructed in yeast. J Biol Eng 3, 15 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-1611-3-15
Gilles Truan's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Vitamin A, an essential vitamin that is highly degraded over time
Gilles Truan, 04/23/2020
Background
We know that vitamins degrade over time. Our purpose was to produce one as a proof of concept in our yeast, but which one?
Why was this person contacted?
At this point of the project, we had reached a dead end: we had not chosen which vitamin the yeast will have to produce yet. The first vitamin we wanted to implement, D3, required exposition to UV light to achieve the last step of the reaction. This solution was unsatisfying to us, the major issue being the lack of information on how compounds in yeast react under UV light. Two other vitamins, E and H, were also suggested by team members but implementing their metabolic pathways in the yeast would have meant adding a lot of enzymes. Which doesn't appear to be feasible in the course of this competition.
What we have learned?
Gilles Truan brought us a solution and told us about vitamin A. Vitamin A would be of great interest in space as it is one of the most sensitive and least stable vitamins. It is extremely sensitive to oxygen and light, and therefore decays rapidly [1]. It is also an essential vitamin for human vision and cell division. Gilles Truan and his team had previously worked on implementing the production of vitamin A in yeast, or rather its provitamin equivalent: beta-carotene. They had designed a protein fusion between the two enzymes responsible for producing beta-carotene: CrtYB and CrtI [2]. By linking the two enzymes, they created one fully functional protein that catalyzes the required reactions. Furthermore, vitamin A had already been implemented successfully in yeast by past iGEM teams, so that we should be able to compare their results with ours.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Thanks to Gilles and his team, we eventually knew which vitamin to produce in the yeast. He also kindly agreed to let us amplify the gene sequence of the fusion protein.
[1] Riaz, Mian & Asif, Muhammad & Ali, Rashida. (2009). Stability of Vitamins during Extrusion. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. 49. 361-8. 10.1080/10408390802067290.
[2] Rabeharindranto, et al. (2019). Enzyme-fusion strategies for redirecting and improving carotenoid synthesis in S. cerevisiae. Metabolic Engineering Communications. 8. e00086. 10.1016/j.mec.2019.e00086.
Gilles Truan's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Optimization of the coculture for Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, advice on design and experiments to be carried out
Jean Marie François, 04/23/2020
Background
We thought about using the astronauts' urine directly as a source of nitrogen to grow our microorganisms. But is this feasible?
Why was this person contacted?
Mr. Jean-Marie François is a professor of Industrial Microbiology and BioNanotechnology at the Federal University of Toulouse, School of Engineering. He is a specialist of Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolism, so we contacted him to solve the question of nitrogen supply for the baker’s yeast culture in our specific condition, and also to get his feedback on our cloning strategy design.
What we have learned?
We had a very specific question to ask him: since C. ljungdahlii doesn’t have an urease, could the yeast transform urease into ammonium for both species? His answer was that yeast can degrade urea into ammonium but it is not sure that it would release this ammonium. One solution could be to express urease on the surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We showed him our cloning strategy and he advised us to use the TDH1 and ADH1 promoters which are strong and constitutive. He also thought that we should use the BY4741 strain which is auxotrophe for leu, his, met and ura and is ΔGal4.
What questions did it raise for the future?
We followed his advice about the promoters and the strain to use. Nevertheless, we felt our project was already very ambitious and we decided to not express urease at the yeast surface, eventhought we will keep preciously this information in mind…
Jean-Marie François's Interview
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Idea of the implementation of our system on Earth, to avoid vitamin A deficiencies
Marie-Pierre Escudié, 05/01/2020
Background
Like many technologies developed for space that have found applications on Earth, our vitamin A supplementation system could be of major interest on Earth in countries with vitamin A deficiency problems.
Why was this person contacted?
Marie-Pierre Escudié is in charge of studies and research at the Institut gaston berger de l'INSA in Lyon. She has been our referent on ethics since 2017. We contacted her in order to work on the ethical strategy we wanted to apply to our project.
What we have learned?
We have thus identified the different actors that could be impacted by our project and built a first draft of the ethical matrix that will allow us to evaluate the justice, autonomy and well-being of this project. From our many discussion with her, we decided to explore the possibility to use our system on earth to complement populations suffering from vitamin A deficiency.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Ghana is one of the regions suffering from these deficiencies. We therefore decided to collaborate with Team AshesiGhana iGEM in order to interview potential users of our system on earth and adapt our systems to their needs.
Marie-Pierre Escudié's Interview
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Effects of microgravity on cells and space shuttle safety rules
Natalie Leys, 05/11/2020
Background
Building a device for space requires a lot of different factors to be considered. Safety and the effects of microgravity on the different elements being among them.
Why was this person contacted?
Dr. Natalie Leys, head of the Microbiology Research Unit and Dr. Rob Van Houdt, specialist in genetic engineering, are part of the Space Life Science program at SCK-CEN. Both of them work for the MELiSSA project, a space research program aiming to develop an artificial ecosystem based on regenerative life support systems for long-term space missions to lunar bases or flights to Mars. We needed to meet specialists in microbiology who are aware of the particular conditions in space.
What we have learned?
They advised us to make sure that our system follows all the safety rules required for a device to get on the spacecraft. These safety rules are related to toxicity of the molecules and microorganisms. They should be biosafety level 1. She also mentioned that there must be no liquids or gas leaks in our system. Moreover, she told us that microgravity has direct and indirect effects on microorganisms and might influence cells metabolism.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Following our interview with Natalie and Rob, we decided to investigate the space-related impacts on microorganisms. We then found out that team iGEM Concordia was working on microgravity effects on yeast, hence our partnership with them. We wanted to have more insight into how microgravity could affect gene expression and our promoters as well as sharing our knowledge and contacts as both of our projects are related to space travels.
Natalie Leys's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Recycling in the space station
Alain Maillet, 05/19/2020
Background
Our project has to be adapted to the constraints of a shuttle leaving for a long duration space missions. Our system must therefore be completely anchored in the existing recycling systems.
Why was this person contacted?
We called again Mr. Maillet, major supporter of our project and expert in human physiology from CNES (French National Space Agency). Indeed, we needed additional information about the problems of recycling in the space station, especially about water.
What we have learned?
Mr. Maillet gave us information about the constraints and regulation of water on board. He also enlightened us on the air and urine recycling processes there. Finally, he gave us valuable information about the methods of energy production in the space shuttles and the constraints of space.
What questions did it raise for the future?
M. Maillet provided us with a multitude of literature articles and helped us deepen our understanding of recycling systems in the space station to adapt our device to these constraints.
Alain Maillet's Interview
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Addition of gas transfers to the mathematical model
Arnaud Cocks, 06/18/2020
Background
The modeling of our device is an essential part of our project. By integrating our experimental parameters in the model, we can challenge its predictions with our results. We demonstrated the feasibility of our production system. For the model to be as accurate as possible, it is necessary to integrate a maximum of constraints related to experimental set up.
Why was this person contacted?
Arnaud Cockx is a professor at INSA Toulouse. He is the Head of the Transfer Interface Mixing team (TIM) at the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI). We contacted him because we needed to add gas transfers to the model since CO2, H2 and O2 transfers appeared as the limiting steps of the system.
What we have learned?
Before this interview, we knew that hollow fiber membraneS were best for te gas transfer. He explained us how to model such transfers in hollow fiber membraneS and he followed the development of the model.
What questions did it raise for the future?
He advised us to contact Mrs Lafforgue because she worked on coculture before.
Arnaud Cocks's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Modification of the design of the coculture reactor into 2 distinct reactors.
Christine Lafforgue, 06/26/2020
Background
Taking profit from the experience of people specialized in our fields of experimentation was essential, at any stage of the project, to make the system evolve in the most realistic and feasible way .
Why was this person contacted?
Christine Lafforgue is a teacher at the National Institute of Applied Science at Toulouse and researcher at the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute. We contacted Mrs Lafforgue on the advice of Mr Cockx. Indeed, she has experience with cocultures. Mr Cockx wanted us to talk to her in order to be sure that our system was feasible.
What we have learned?
She told us that if there is no flow through the membrane, the transfer of molecules from one side to the other would only be done by diffusion and so will be too slow. She advised us to design the system as two reactors with a circulation of media between both. We thought of a circular flow, which would be sequentially reversed to prevent filters from clogging. After this interview, she continued to help us in the setting up of the coculture experiments. She advised us for the proof of concept experiments to use a linear flow which would be sequentially reversed. She even lent us a two-headed reactor for C. ljungdahlii.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Then, we had to know the volume ratio between the bacteria’s reactor and the yeast’s one. This was a very important question, and it guided our modeling effort.
Christine Lafforgue's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
First potential user feedback (astronaut), possible evolution of the project towards nutritive yeast production
Philippe Perrin, 07/01/2020
Background
In order to develop our device with a maximal coherence to its final use, we needed feedback from potential users of our device: astronauts! The experience of nutrition in space, the acceptability of our solution, are as many unavoidable points that we had to address. Gathering feedback from several users was crucial for us (but how tricky it was to get it!).
Why was this person contacted?
Philippe Perrin, a French astronaut, could have been one of the potential users of our system. During his trip to space he participated in the assembly of the ISS. In total his mission lasted 13 days 20 hours and 35 minutes including three spacewalks. Having experienced life in space his testimony was crucial.
What we have learned?
We asked him about his space mission, particularly regarding nutrition and the daily life aboard the station. Since his mission was a special one because it included three spacewalks, and so his schedule was very busy. Therefore there was little space for free time. When it came to nutrition, he needed a high carbohydrate intake since he had a quite physical mission. He advised us to pay special attention on two points. The first was safety, since we use dihydrogen and dioxygen. The second point concerned the non-toxicity of the crew's food. Furthermore, according to him it could be interesting to develop the nutritional aspect of our yeast in order to see how much nutrient can be recovered with our system.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Following this interview, we contacted a company specialized in the production of yeast for food supplements and medicines: Lallemand. We wanted to further explore the composition of the yeasts and their nutritional quality.
This interview gave us a lot of elements to analyze. You can find below the video of Mr. Perrin's interview.
Phillipe Perrin's interview
Recurrent health problems in space and microgravity. The importance of nutrition to partially overcome these problems.
Brigitte Godard, 07/20/2020
Background
Interviewing the person in charge of monitoring the health of european astronauts throughout their stay in space is the best way to adapt our solution to the real health and nutrition problems of astronauts, and to give legitimacy to our system.
Why was this person contacted?
Dr. Brigitte Godard is a doctor in medicine specialized in medical biology. She joined the Institute of Space Medicine and Physiology (MEDES) in 2005 where she studied bed rest experiments. She is currently one of the few european astronaut’s Doctor. We contacted her in order to know what are the physiological problems experienced by astronauts in space, especially to know if they experience vitamin deficiencies and loss of taste.
What we have learned?
We talked about food and nutrition in space. She confirmed that some of the astronauts do experience taste alteration while in space, and as consequence, they add lots of salt and tabasco to try to bring up the flavors. Which is not an healthy option. Currently their meals are designed to fulfill all their needs (following WHO’s guidelines). But the medical teams have to survey any potential deficiency, and they are very concerned about future long space missions because of the nutritional value lost of food. For this reason the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities provides their astronauts with supplements for all vitamins. On the other hand, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) only provide vitamin D supplements, even if it would probably be interesting to complement with more vitamins.
What questions did it raise for the future?
As she isn’t a specialist in nutrition, she suggested us to contact the nutrition specialist at ESA, Martina Heer, and also Romain Charles, who participated in the Mars 500 experiment, and is currently a crew family support. A "crew family support" is the person in charge of connecting the astronaut with his family when he is on mission. He is there to ensure that the astronaut is in the best personal conditions possible to carry out his mission.
Brigitte Godard's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Methods of production of active and inactive yeasts as probiotics and food supplements.
Karen Dhanraj, Romane Maillet 07/24/2020
Background
Since we planned to use yeast as a food supplement, we were eager to meet someone who works for a yeast production company (Lallemand) in order to confirm our choice of yeast for food complementation.
Why was this person contacted?
We had the chance to talk to Karen Dhanraj, technical marketing and sales manager at Lallemand Bio-Ingredients and with Romane Maillet, Yeast Product Specialist at Lallemand Health Solution.
What we have learned?
We learnt that Lallemand Bio-ingredient uses inactive non-GMO Saccharomyces cerevisiae as food supplement, as a meal replacers and in superfood mixes because of its richness in proteins, fibers, vitamins, carbohydrates and minerals. Lallemand Health solutions is specialized in probiotics and they use Saccharomyces boulardii because of its effect on the gut health as an alternative to broad spectrum antibiotic against diarrhea cause by bacterial infections.
What questions did it raise for the future?
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used as a diet supplement. This makes it a microorganism of choice for our project. S. boulardii also has interesting properties, its incorporation into our system could be possible.
Karen Dhanra and Romane Maillet's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Second potential user (astronaut) feedback, return on the reality of the loss of taste in space.
Jean-Jacques Favier, 07/25/2020
Background
Since each astronaut adapts differently to space, it was important for us to meet as many of them to share their experience of life in space, especially about their relationship with food.
Why was this person contacted?
Jean-Jacques Favier, former French astronaut, could have been another potential users of our system. Jean-Jacques oversaw several experiments about microgravity, physics and fluid mechanics during a long Spacelab laboratory mission.
What we have learned?
We asked him about his experience about food in space. He told us he has lost his sense of taste and was indeed adding tabasco and spices to every meal he had. His taste totally disappeared. He also adviced us to develop our project step by step keeping in mind TRLs (Technology readiness level).
What questions did it raise for the future?
After this interview, our aim was to assess our project maturity through these levels and to implement this strategy in our entrepreneurship effort.
Issues related to the well-being of astronauts in space. Psychological impact of long-term confinement.
Romain Charles, 28/07
Background
Collecting feedback from people who have been in space is a great opportunity. Here we had another chance to collect the testimony of a person who has experienced a similar experience of long-distance travel from Earth and who is in close contact with the astronauts. His testimony allowed us to reconsider the importance of giving strong tastes to our yeast.
Why was this person contacted?
Romain Charles was one of the members of the Mars 500 expedition, a mission simulating a trip to Mars. He is now a crew family support and, as such, works daily with astronauts. We contacted him to learn more about the real problems encountered and to be expected during long-duration trips.
What we have learned?
From his interview, we were able to gather a lot of information on long duration travels and, thanks to his closeness to astronauts, on the loss of taste they experience and its consequences. According to Romain Charles, some astronauts tend to compensate for the loss of flavor by adding salt, which is harmful to their bodies. The idea of making yeast with different taste is therefore even more relevant since a taste to spice up dishes would help reduce salt consumption. This interview allowed us to consider the production of flavors more as a real alternative to salt, which would be beneficial to their health, rather than only for the astronauts' pleasure.
Romain Charles's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Help on the design of coculture test experiments
Laurence Girbal, 08/18/2020
Background
Changing the strategy and adapting it accordingly to the results of the experiments is the essence of the research process. At each of these stages, it may be relevant to seek to the expertise of a specialist to certify the validity of the experiment or to ask for advice.
Why was this person contacted?
We contacted Mrs. Laurence Girbal, researcher at the TBI (Toulouse Biotechnology Institute) because we had designated two experimental systems to test our coculture and we had a lot of questions about the equipment to be used and also about the feasibility of our systems.
What we have learned?
Ms. Girbal gave us information about the equipment to be used: an Erlenmeyer flask for our bacteria and a bioreactor for our yeast. She also advised us on the filtration methods to be used and the hoses for the pumps. Finally, she advised us on the whole process of our experiments to prepare the coculture.
What questions did it raise for the future?
This interview allowed us to conduct the preliminary experiments for the start of our coculture. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the entire coculture due to lack of time and lack of appropriate filters.
Laurence Girbal's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
Grow clostridium in a common medium with the yeast. Learn good anaerobic culture pratices.
Jason Whitham
Background
Why was this person contacted?
Dr. Jason M. Whitham is a post-doctoral fellow at North Carolina State University studying plant microbial interactions. After many unsuccessful attempts and ordering the strain twice to make Clostridium ljungdahlii grow, we decided to seek an expert. As Dr. Whitham wrote a thesis about this bacterium, we contacted him to better understand how to cultivate it.
What we have learned?
Our email exchange with Dr. Whitham allowed us to approve the common medium for Clostridium ljungdahlii and the set-up of our reactor. It could have been improved by adding a pH probe or a gas inlet flow control for example.
On the other hand, Jason M. Whitham taught us the good practices for an anaerobic culture and helped us troubleshoot our experiments, when we encountered an issue. Finally, he taught us how to store our strain at -80°C.
What questions did it raise for the future?
At the end of our experiments, we encountered an issue: our medium was precipitating. Dr. Whitham explained us the origin of this problem and how to get around it. Adding iron to the medium should make Fe2+ ions more available to our bacteria despite the precipitation. If we had time to continue, this is what we would have done.
Jason Witham's Interview
Click here to see the full interview.
“For long-distance space missions, it would be necessary to have food with intact nutritional properties for at least 5 years (for safety reasons), this is not the case now.”Alain Maillet, 02/27/2020
“Coculture is possible, but don't forget to consider reactor oxygenation, recycling, microgravity and cleaning constraints.”Stéphane Guillouet, 02/04/2020
“Vitamin A is one of the most sensitive and least stable vitamins of them all.”Gilles Truan, 04/23/2020
“It's certainly original as a coculture system... These are topics for the future! Good luck.”Jean-Marie François, 04/23/2020
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I think we need to consider the applications of your device on Earth, for example, for vitamin A deficient populations.”Marie-Pierre Escudié, 05/01/2020
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For lunar missions there is no water replenishment possible. You have to bring huge quantities of water.
You should try as much as possible to make the fluid used by your device re-entering the recycling cycle.”Alain Maillet, 05/19/2020
“You should use two reactors with a circulation of media between both.”Christine Lafforgue, 06/26/2020
“What interests me in your approach is the nutritional capacity of your yeast.”Philippe Perrin 07/01/2020
“We know that the most important issues are bone loss and radiation, even though astronauts are young and healthy. This is why exercise and nutrition in space are crucial.”Brigitte Godard, 07/20/2020
1 -
“At Lallemand Bio-ingredient, we use inactive yeast for the conception of food supplements or meal replacers”2 - “And at Lallemand Health solutions, we use active yeast for the conception of probiotics as drug”
1 - Karen Dhanraj, 2 - Romane Maillet, 07/24/2020
“You should start batch mode in a flask of Clostridium ljungdahlii then centrifuge it, throw away the pellet and try to grow Saccharomyces cerevisiae on it. ”Laurence Girbal, 08/18/2020
Ethical Matrix for Space
As a descriptive ethical matrix, its purpose is to highlight the elements that have influenced the decision-making process carried out by the team. Our aim is to build a project that respects and preserves the stakeholders. We also wanted a project that was as responsible and good for the world as possible. During the design of our system, three conditions were put forward based on the crossroads between stakeholders and values (well-being, autonomy, fairness):
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Material conditions: considering resources, to compensate for their unequal distribution
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Moral conditions: responsibility in design, responsibility of intermediary actors
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Cultural conditions: acceptability by users.
As a normative ethical matrix towards the team members, it is a way to constrain our social responsibility in this project.
Presentation of the stakeholders in the development of our technologies for space:
Actors: any person or group of people who can decide about the right way to act and who can have an impact on that decision.
→ iGEM team, laboratory working on projects similar to ours
Users: people who use a technology and who may have certain wishes or requirements for the operation of a technology.
→ Astronauts
Regulators: rule-making organizations or regulations that technical products must comply with. These may include standards related to health and safety, but also guidelines related to competitor relations and fair trade.
→ Space agencies in different countries with the capacity to send people into space, actors in recycling and waste treatment
| Stakeholders | Autonomy | Well-being | Fairness |
|---|---|---|---|
The autonomy principle stipulates the need to respect the autonomy of an independent person who is considered to be free and capable |
The principle of beneficence, which requires contributing to the well-being of others; Well-being is a state related to various factors considered separately or jointly: health, social or economic success, pleasure, self-actualization, harmony with oneself and with others. |
The justice principle is concerned with the distribution of resources. |
|
| iGEM Team | Design transparency: the entire project, from the details of our design to the feedback on the experiments are detailed on our wiki, allowing any research team to take over our project or to use it as a basis to build their own project in complete autonomy. |
Responsible design: our design respects the safety instructions for using and handling this system in the laboratory, by following the decree of July 16th 2007 (NOR: MTST0756429A, revised on February 16th 2018). |
Fair access to information: all information about our project is freely available, accessible to all and well documented. |
| Agricultural industry and private companies | |||
| Actors in recycling and waste treatment | Right of review: these institutions have the right to supervise the design and implementation of the project. |
Eco-responsible design: the design anticipates the end-of-life treatment stages of the device. Materials are studied to have a minimal impact after their end of life. | Sustainable production methods: we tried to design our system so that it is as resource-efficient and as easy to recycle as possible. In this way, we tried to create a more sustainable production method. However, some aspects still need improvement. Notably through the use of sensors in our device. |
| Vitamin A-deficient populations |
Ease of use: Our device has been designed so that a non-specialized user, such as a resident of a country suffering from vitamin A deficiency, can use it without any outside help other than an instruction manual. This instruction manual could have been part of our future plans. We discussed this with the Ghanaian iGEM team with whom we collaborated during our interviews. Our device uses few resources and can be used for a long period of time. This means that, unlike a regular replenishment of chemically produced vitamins, our device allows people to produce vitamins by themselves: this increases their autonomy. |
Deficiency complementing device: a future development of our project could be to verify and test the non-toxicity of the products and co-products generated throughout the production process. Tests to validate the safety of the device by operating in various and extreme conditions are also planned to prove the non-toxicity of our project regardless of the conditions in which it is used. |
/ |
| Government of vitamin A-deficient countries and nutrition NGOs | Right of review: these institutions have the right to supervise the design and implementation of the project. |
Device solving a real problem, vitamin A deficiency in some countries: our process allows the production of vitamin A-enriched yeast using a minimum of resources and recycling them. Our process is therefore part of the actions carried out to limit vitamin A deficiencies. |
Compliance with regulations: It is part of our plans, in the long term, to adapt our system to the regulations established in the various countries suffering from vitamin A deficiency. These regulations are numerous, they involve the configuration of the device itself or the health of the populations, with tests on the non-toxicity of the yeast. |
To conclude, this matrix allowed us to study the impact of our project on its various stakeholders around the values of autonomy, justice and well-being. We were able to identify some of the limitations of our project and suggest solutions. Thus, if our project continues, from our initiative or if it's taken up by other future iGEM teams, it would be interesting to create a user manual adapted to the conditions of space and to current space regulations, or improving the recycling of our device. Nevertheless, this ethical matrix allows us to highlight the feasibility of our device from an ethical point of view, which is essential for our project.
We have also considered in the implementation part of our project, the implementation of our system on Earth, click to access it.
Overall Conclusion
Throughout our project, we had the immense privilege of meeting stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds, including many experts who have helped us develop our project into the device we know today. By meeting a specialist in ethics, we were able to elaborate the necessary tools to show that our project is responsible and good for the world. Finally, we documented all our work so that iGEM teams willing to take over our project could build on it. We made our project accessible to anyone by sharing the reports of our interviews in their entirety (context, rational and prior work) and referencing all of our sources. It is an approach supported by our contribution on "how to build a space project" that you will find in our contribution page .
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