SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY – LEVERAGING BIOLOGY TO ENABLE LUNAR IN SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION

In 2010, the United States set exploration milestones for sending humans beyond the International Space Station to the Moon and Mars. In President Obama's National Space Policy address, he declared the objective of these missions was to "live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite". Living outside of Earth's atmosphere requires infrastructure that can withstand outer space's hazardous environment. This seminar will discuss an ongoing research collaboration between Stanford and NASA Ames that uses biological polymers and proteins to bind lunar soils into construction materials that can support long duration space missions. Specifically, a macromolecule derived from blood will be highlighted as a potential 'biological concrete' binder. Both terrestrial and lunar applications of synthetic biology for this purpose will be presented.

Speaker: Dr. Michael D. Lepech, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University