Research, Space Rider Orbit Test in 2026 to Fix Bacteria DNA Damage

In-orbit tests to evaluate the possibility of repairing, in microgravity, the damage induced to the DNA of bacteria. The BioRider project, funded by the Italian Space Agency and coordinated by Kayser Italia Srl, officially starts for the development of an incubator useful for conducting experiments in microgravity during the inaugural flight of the Space Rider, an automated and reusable space vehicle, within the space program of the European Space Agency (ESA). The launch of the Space Rider is scheduled for 2026 from the European spaceport in French Guiana aboard the ESA Vega C vector and will be able to remain in orbit for up to two months.

The CyanoTechRider experiment, headed by Daniela Billi, professor of Astrobiology and Synthetic Biology at the Department of Biology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, is one of three that will be conducted using the BioRider incubator during the inaugural flight. The researcher is currently coordinator of the Asteria project, funded by ASI. “‘CyanoTechRider – explains Billi – intends to evaluate the effect of microgravity on the ability to repair damage induced to DNA in a cyanobacterium resistant to desiccation and radiation. In particular, a cyanobacterium already used in previous tests conducted on the Expose platform located outside the International Space Station will be used. These bacteria, also called blue-green algae, are microorganisms capable of chlorophyll photosynthesis, that is, they use carbon dioxide, light and water to produce oxygen and sugars”.

“In the CyanoTechRider experiment – continues the researcher – dried cells of the cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis containing a synthetic plasmid will be exposed to ionizing radiation, integrated into the incubator and then rehydrated in orbit. Post-flight analyses will allow us to evaluate, through genome sequencing, the effect of microgravity, and more generally of the space environment, on DNA repair efficiency. Furthermore, the evaluation of the integrity of the synthetic plasmid will provide a prerequisite for a future use of this cyanobacterium to produce compounds to support human space exploration”.