Mars City Design® and Innovation Labo® are unveiling the world’s first Microbiome technology solutions for space:
Mars City Design®, a California based space innovation platform, is partnering with Innovation Labo®, a Tokyo based microbiome technology pioneer, to solve rapid aging in space. This will enable human extended spaceflights, as well as human Moon and Mars missions to be closer to reality.
It is known that due to the chronic exposures to the extreme environment of space, space travel has caused anomalies and long term damages to the human body, at a cellular level. Ranging from mental to physical stress, the conditions cause acceleration in aging. Recent studies have demonstrated that this damage also occurs to the dynamics of the 5 lbs microbiome population in the crews’ gut, whose initial role is to modulate the crews’ epigenetics.
It is Mars City Design’s conviction that humans will thrive on Mars. The company has been designing blueprints of the Mars City® destinations, from human habitation prototypes, to growable biomaterials and to life support systems.
However, not only humans are vulnerable to space travel conditions, the health of the younger generation also seems to decline and grow weaker over time. “We have to find the solutions to enable this vision closer to reality” said Vera Mulyani, Founder of Mars City Design.
NASA has been providing the necessary countermeasure exercise programs, selected diets and safety measures to maintain crews’ wellness inside the International Space Station (ISS). However, using today’s possible technology, it would still require six to nine months to arrive and settle on Mars for up to two years, before returning to Earth. Could humans survive the trips alone?
“Our vision was to develop a sustainable solution whose impact will increase human performance and resilience, and we serendipitously discovered Innovation Labo®,” said Mulyani. Innovation Labo® has been conducting advanced epigenetic research for more than two decades. Their authentic study started with performing a Japanese centenarians’ microbiome research, to develop super strains that can evolve under stress, to then produce better metabolites. This process allows an advanced epigenetic modulation when implemented back to the hosts. “Unlike antibiotics resistance mechanisms, re-coding the humans’ billions of microbiomes demonstrates its immediate effectiveness.” added Dr. Mizuho Nasu, Innovation Labo’s lead scientist.
The collaboration product is called Astrobiome®, the first microbiome solution that has demonstrated gene expression modulation in a matter of days. Astrobiome® can renew the cells in the overall body while increasing its resilience to stress. With these products, Astrobiome® can advance longevity solutions while reducing all related inflammatory health issues, both in space and on Earth.