Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40562752›Full record

ArticleNPJ microgravity2025

Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS.

Xin Liu, Pat Pataranutaporn, Benjamin Fram, Allison Z Werner, Sunanda Sharma, Nicholas P Gauthier, Erika Erickson, Patrick Chwalek, Kelsey J Ramirez, Morgan A Ingraham and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ microgravity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Xin LiuMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. xxxxxxin@mit.edu.
Pat PataranutapornMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. patpat@mit.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1879-7340
Benjamin FramDepartment of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Allison Z WernerNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA. allison.werner@nrel.gov.
Sunanda SharmaMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nicholas P GauthierDepartment of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Erika EricksonNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7806-9348
Patrick ChwalekMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Kelsey J RamirezNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA.
Morgan A IngrahamNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7350-4862
Natasha P MurphyNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA.
Krista A RyonDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Braden T TierneyDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7533-8802
Gregg T BeckhamNational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, Golden, CO, USA.
Christopher E MasonDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1850-1642
Ariel EkblawMIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cultivation of microorganisms in space has enormous potential to enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Here, we develop an autonomous payload with fully programmable serial passaging and sample preservation, termed the Modular Open Biological Platform (MOBP), and flight-test the MOBP aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by conducting enzymatic and microbial plastics upcycling experiments. The MOBP is a compact, modular bioreactor system that allows for sustained microbial growth via automated media transfers, such as those for sample collection and storage for terrestrial analyses, and precise data monitoring from integrated sensors. The MOBP was flight-tested with two experiments designed to evaluate biological upcycling of the plastic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The bioproduct βKA can be polymerized into a nylon-6,6 analog with improved properties for use in the production of a variety of materials. We posit the MOBP will aid in democratizing the execution of synthetic biology in spaceflight towards enabling ISRU.

Identifiers

PMID40562752
PMCPMC12198410

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.