Collection Of Biospecimens From The Inspiration4 Mission Establishes The Standards For The Space Omics And Medical Atlas (SOMA)
The SpaceX Inspiration4 mission provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of spaceflight on the human body. Biospecimen samples were collected from four crew members longitudinally before (Launch: L-92, L-44, L-3 days), during (Flight Day: FD1, FD2, FD3), and after (Return: R + 1, R + 45, R + 82, R + 194 days) spaceflight, spanning a total of 289 days across 2021-2022.
The collection process included venous whole blood, capillary dried blood spot cards, saliva, urine, stool, body swabs, capsule swabs, SpaceX Dragon capsule HEPA filter, and skin biopsies. Venous whole blood was further processed to obtain aliquots of serum, plasma, extracellular vesicles and particles, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
a Dry swabs were collected from two body locations. b Wet swabs were collected from eight body locations. c Swabs were collected from the deltoid region. Immediately after, 3- or 4-mm skin biopsies were collected from the same area and divided for histology and spatially resolved transcriptomics. — Nature Communications via PubMed
In total, 2,911 sample aliquots were shipped to our central lab at Weill Cornell Medicine for downstream assays and biobanking.
This paper provides an overview of the extensive biospecimen collection and highlights their processing procedures and long-term biobanking techniques, facilitating future molecular tests and evaluations.
As such, this study details a robust framework for obtaining and preserving high-quality human, microbial, and environmental samples for aerospace medicine in the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) initiative, which can aid future human spaceflight and space biology experiments.
a Swab locations, descriptions, and label IDs. b Interior view of the SpaceX Dragon capsule. c View of the control panel located above the middle seats in the Dragon capsule. d View of the cupola (viewing dome) region from the outside. The rim of the dome was swabbed from the inside (ID 10). — Nature Communications via PubMed
Collection of biospecimens from the inspiration4 mission establishes the standards for the space omics and medical atlas (SOMA), Nature Communications via PubMed (open access)
The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) and International Astronaut Biobank, earlier post
Astrobiology,
