The SpaceX space transport service has planned to launch a capsule to the International Space Station on a resupply mission “CRS-10” aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on 18th February 2017. There are a number of items inside the capsule including the sample of the massive infectious “MRSA” Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacterium. A device will also be onboard in order to monitor the sample at the genomic level. This experiment has been considered the result of the 1st Galactic Grant Competition “CASIS” (Center for Advancement of Science in Space). The major objective for initiating the project is to provide access to the International Space Station for Massachusetts-based biotech companies. There are a number of recipients including Anita Goel of Harvard physicist from her own private research company “Nanobiosym”.
The company “Nanobiosym” has developed a mobile pathogen-detection tool in order to detect potential genetic mutations in real time from bacterial infections. It is a “Tricorder-style device” and it has a portable system for extracting, amplifying and detecting nucleic acids & proteins by using a compact integrated chip, in combination with a mobile device system in order to analyze detected signals. The CASIS has granted “Nanobiosym” and provided an opportunity to purify the technology in the space. It would not only provide help in the development of the technology, but it would also provide a handsome support to scientists to monitor genetic mutations in bacteria. It would help scientists to predict the ways in which bacterial infections are developing the antibiotic resistance.