In a first, India to conduct experiments aboard ISS to study sustainability of life in space

NEW DELHI: India is all set to conduct the first ever biological experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to study the sustainability of human life in space, ministry of science & technology announced on Thursday. The initiative comes as a part of BioE3 Biotechnology policy launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."In a historic initiative, the first of its kind ever in the world, India is set to conduct first-ever biological experiments aboard the "International Space Station" (ISS) to study the sustainability of human life in Space," science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said in a post on X."The unique experiments, spearheaded by the Indian Space Research Organisation #Isro in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology #DBT, will be carried out as part of the upcoming International Space Station (ISS) mission Axiom-4, with Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as a crew member. The DBT has undertaken this ambitious project as a sequel to the "#BioE3" Biotechnology policy launched by PM Sh @NarendraModi," he added.The experiments led by Isro in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are set to take place aboard the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station, with astronaut group captain Shubhanshu Shukla among the crew, according to a statement by the department."This project is a joint initiative of Isro, Nasa, and DBT and aims to analyze key growth parameters and changes in transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes of different algal species in space, as compared to Earth-based controls. The results will help identify the most suitable microalgal species for use in space environments, he added," the statement said.The second experiment aboard the ISS will examine how cyanobacteria like Spirulina and Synechococcus grow and respond at the proteomic level in microgravity, using both urea- and nitrate-based nutrient media, it said.