The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Exploration Biobank in Lisbon, Portugal, has received an initial batch of 1,422 samples, which will be used to validate the facility’s workflow.
In July, ESA awarded a €300,000, 24-month contract to Portugal’s Gulbenkian Institute of Molecular Medicine (GIMM) to establish the agency’s Exploration Biobank. The contract was part of an initiative to procure an existing commercial service to facilitate the rapid creation of a centralised repository for biological samples. The facility will store human samples from space missions and studies investigating the effects of microgravity on the human body.
During the initial four-month phase of the project, now completed, safety, operational, and transport protocols for the facility were developed. With the delivery of the first samples, these protocols will now be validated before the project fully transitions into operational use.
“The delivery of the first samples marks the transition from concept to reality for ESA’s Exploration Biobank,” said Angélique van Ombergen, ESA’s Chief Exploration Scientist. “With this first arrival, we validate the processes that will allow us to safely preserve and manage biological materials resulting from our spaceflight research. This resource will support future missions to the Moon and Mars and serve as a foundation for the next generation of scientists studying how humans adapt to extreme environments.”
According to a 14 October Portuguese Space Agency press release, the first 1,422 samples delivered to the facility, located within the Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (Lisbon Academic Medical Center), were part of ESA’s Vivaldi III study. Led by the Institut de Médecine et de Physiologie Spatiales (MEDES) in Toulouse, the Vivaldi III study aimed to simulate the effects of microgravity by having volunteers spend 10 days lying on waterbeds. The aim of the study was to better understand the impact of microgravity on the human body during long-duration space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Once the facility is certified, what remains of the 4,380 human samples collected as part of the Vivaldi III study that have not yet been delivered will be transferred to the facility. This is expected to take place before the end of 2025.
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