ESA’s new Exploration Biobank received its first biological samples linked to European space research in Portugal this week.
The shipment contained over 1400 human samples from the Vivaldi III bedrest and dry-immersion campaign that took place earlier this year at Medes space clinic in Toulouse, France. Vivaldi III had a group of volunteers lying down on a waterbed and another group in bedrest for 10 days to recreate some of the effects of spaceflight on the body.
Samples of blood, saliva, urine, stool and hair from the participants arrived at the Biobank of the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM) in Lisbon on 14 October following strict safety, traceability and conservation protocols.
The biological repository will remain stored at –80°C in remotely monitored freezers. By the end of the year, 3000 additional samples from the same study will complete this first biobank batch.
In a crossroads between biomedicine and space exploration, the ESA Exploration Biobank is the first infrastructure of its kind in Europe dedicated to the preservation of biological samples associated with space research.
This key infrastructure allows ESA to securely preserve and manage biological materials from spaceflight research, from isolation and confinement studies to European astronaut missions.
“The Exploration Biobank will support future missions to the Moon and Mars and provide a foundation for the next generation of scientists exploring how humans adapt to extreme environments,” says Angelique Van Ombergen, ESA’s Chief exploration scientist.
The launch of the ESA Biobank reinforces Portugal’s position as a key player in strengthening Europe’s role in space medicine and exploration. The hosting facility GIMM has been collecting samples from donors with a wide range of pathologies for over a decade.
ESA’s research will not only benefit astronauts but will also have implications for people on Earth who are bedridden for long periods of time.