Abstract
The European research community, via European Space Agency (ESA) spaceflight opportunities, has significantly contributed toward our current understanding of spaceflight biology. Recent molecular biology experiments include “omic” analysis, which provides a holistic and systems level understanding of the mechanisms underlying phenotypic adaptation. Despite vast interest in, and the immense quantity of biological information gained from space omics research, the knowledge of ESA-related space omics works as a collective remains poorly defined due to the recent exponential application of omics approaches in space and the limited search capabilities of pre-existing records. Thus, a review of such contributions is necessary to clarify and promote the development of space omics among ESA and ESA state members. To address this gap, in this review, we i) identified and summarized omics works led by European researchers, ii) geographically described these omics works, and iii) highlighted potential caveats in complex funding scenarios among ESA member states.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 103920 |
| Journal | iScience |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 14 Feb 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:All listed authors are members of the ESA Space Omics Topical Team, funded by the ESA grant/contract 4000131202/20/NL/PG/pt “Space Omics: Toward an integrated ESA/NASA –omics database for spaceflight and ground facilities experiments” awarded to RH, which was the main funding source for this work. Individual authors also acknowledge support from: the Medical Research Council part of a Skills Development Fellowship [grant number MR/T026014/1] awarded to CSD; the Spanish CAM TALENTO program project 2020-5A_BIO-19724 to MAFR; the Spanish Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Desarrollo Tecnológico Grant RTI2018-099309-B-I00 to FJM, the Swedish Research Council VR grant 2020-04864 to SG and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales grant DAR 2020-4800001004, 2021-4800001117 to ECD. This research was also funded in part by the Wellcome Trust [110182/Z/15/Z] to KS. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would like to thank Marina Souza, librarian and Master of Information Science, for guidance on using Web of Science. Conceptualization and methodology, CSD, WdS, and RH; software, data curation, and visualization, CSD, SW, and WdS; original draft preparation, CSD, WdS, and RH; subsection contributions, review, and editing, CSD, JB, ECD, TE, NL, PM, AM, FM, FJM, MAFR, KS, AV, and SG; academic English review, CSD, KS, and SBW; contribution to idea exchange, GH, NJS, SBW, and DB; project administration and editing, WdS and RH; funding acquisition, RH. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. DB is a cofounder of Poppy Health, Inc. and CSO of Yuri Gravity GmbH and declares additional affiliations at the NGS Competence Center Tübingen (NCCT), University of Tübingen, Tübingen and Yuri Gravity, Meckenbeuren, Germany. MFR declares additional affiliation at Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. The authors declare there are no additional competing interests. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as an underrepresented ethnic minority in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as living with a disability. We worked to ensure diversity in experimental samples through the selection of the cell lines. We worked to ensure diversity in experimental samples through the selection of the genomic datasets. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.
Funding Information:
The Swedish space program is mostly implemented through international collaborations where the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA, or SNSB—Swedish National Space Board—until 2018) represents the contact entity for space cooperation. In other words, SNSA is a central governmental agency that can sign a contract within the space area on behalf of Sweden because it is its representative in the EU space program. The SNSA does not conduct its own research or development and most of its financial resources are dedicated to the ESA framework and bi-lateral cooperation. Around 70% of the Swedish space agency's budget is dedicated to international cooperation, while 20% is allocated to finance national research and development. In fact, SNSA is an administrative authority under the Ministry of Education responsible for government-funded national and international space operations for research and development. Swedish researchers, companies, and users of space applications can seek financial support from SNSA by submitting grant applications. These are subsequently reviewed by independent foreign auditors, and the board of the SNSA decides who will be awarded. In addition, SNSA invests in schools and outreach to the general public to train space-interested engineers, entrepreneurs, and researchers in order to promote and maintain Sweden as a successful space nation.
Funding Information:
CNES is the main French institution in charge of funding spaceflight omics research. In fact, CNES finances space research at different levels. First, CNES provides financial support directly to researchers. To obtain it, researchers can submit a project to a CNES scientific committee once a year, and its acceptance allows researchers to apply for CNES funding. This funding is provided for 8-month duration and the amount is re-negotiated every year. This aid is used to finance laboratory experiments and the purchase of scientific equipment. It also allows the remuneration of staff and students in the form of fixed-term contracts, doctoral, and post-doctoral grants. Second, CNES funds spaceflight experiments by paying France’|'s contribution to ESA. Thus, France, as a member state of the European Agency, contributes to financing the experiments carried out in parabolic flights and on the ISS. The international opportunities for spaceflight experiments to which French researchers have access are the AOs from ESA, which give access to the ISS, parabolic flights, as well as to ground-based facilities (ESA-CORA-GBF), offering different microgravity simulators. The response to AOs is made in the framework of an international collaboration. French researchers also have the possibility of responding to the AOs of other international space agencies when these open their AOs to Europe. This is, for example, the case of NASA. In France, space research is funded solely by the CNES and researchers do not have access to other sources of national funding (institutional or private). In addition, space research requires a long-term investment, up to 10 years, incompatible with the requirements of other possible sources of funding (i.e., Agence Nationale de la Recherche), which are granted on average for 4 years.
Funding Information:
All listed authors are members of the ESA Space Omics Topical Team, funded by the ESA grant/contract 4000131202/20/NL/PG/pt “Space Omics: Toward an integrated ESA/NASA –omics database for spaceflight and ground facilities experiments” awarded to RH, which was the main funding source for this work. Individual authors also acknowledge support from: the Medical Research Council part of a Skills Development Fellowship [grant number MR/T026014/1 ] awarded to CSD; the Spanish CAM TALENTO program project 2020-5A_BIO-19724 to MAFR; the Spanish Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Desarrollo Tecnológico Grant RTI2018-099309-B-I00 to FJM, the Swedish Research Council VR grant 2020-04864 to SG and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales grant DAR 2020-4800001004 , 2021-4800001117 to ECD. This research was also funded in part by the Wellcome Trust [ 110182/Z/15/Z ] to KS. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The authors would like to thank Marina Souza, librarian and Master of Information Science, for guidance on using Web of Science.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
Keywords
- Astrobiology
- Omics
- Space medicine
- Space sciences
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General