TO ADDRESS NASA'S NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR AMBIENT PRESERVATION OF HUMAN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES COLLECT…

Public award description

TO ADDRESS NASA'S NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR AMBIENT PRESERVATION OF HUMAN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING EXTENDED SPACEFLIGHT AND PLANETARY OPERATIONS, CHROMOLOGIC (CL) PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE AMBIENT PRESERVATION (BIOSAP) DEVICE. BIOSAP DEVICE IS BASED ON AN IMPROVED DRIED BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS STORAGE APPROACH AND SPECIALIZED MATRIX TO (1) COLLECT A KNOWN AMOUNT OF BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES, (2) RAPIDLY CAPTURE AND STABILIZE THEM, (3) PROTECT THEM FROM BIODEGRADATION, (4) DECREASE DRYING TIME, AND (5) INCREASE RECOVERY. THE UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY AND EXPERTISE OF CL SCIENTISTS WILL RESULT IN AN INNOVATIVE, RELIABLE, COMPACT AND LOW-COST METHOD OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING DRIED BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THE UNIQUE PORTABLE DESIGN OF THE BIOSAP DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY POWER SOURCE AND IT IS UTILIZABLE DURING FLIGHT AND MISSION. IN PHASE I, CL WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE BIOSAP DEVICE BY FABRICATING A PROTOTYPE DEVICE CAPABLE OF CAPTURING AND STABILIZING A SUBSET OF TARGET ANALYTES THROUGH A RAPID DRYING PROCESS. IN PHASE II, CL PLANS TO VALIDATE, REFINE AND OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN OF THE BIOSAP TO ALLOW FOR FUTURE INTEGRATION WITH POST-MISSION ANALYSIS METHODOLOGIES.