Genes in Space Winning Students Will Study Stress in Space
Yujie Wang (second from the left) and Finsam Samson (second from the right) were announced the winners of the 2019 Genes in Space competition at the 2019 ISS Research and Development Conference.
Later this year, 2019 Genes in Space student competition winners Finsam Samson and Yujie Wang will watch as a rocket launches to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) carrying the experiment they designed during their senior year of high school.
Samson (now a student at Stanford University) and Wang (now a student at the University of California, Berkeley) worked with mentors at MIT and Harvard to develop an experiment to examine the effects of microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. on gene expression. Results from their investigation could not only provide important insight into astronaut health but also help scientists better understand the human body’s reaction to stressful conditions on Earth.
The Genes in Space program, founded by Boeing and miniPCR and supported by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, holds an annual student research competition in which students in grades 7 through 12 propose DNA experiments that leverage the unique environment of the ISS. The winning proposals are developed into flight projects that are sent to the space station. Genes in SpaceAn annual national research competition for students in grades 7 through 12 to design pioneering biotechnology experiments that are conducted by astronauts on the space station. The program is funded by Boeing and miniPCR bio and supported by the ISS National Laboratory® and New England BioLabs. experiments use a compact polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine developed by miniPCR that allows crew members to make copies of specific segments of DNA onboard the ISS.
Samson and Wang’s project was selected from nearly 800 Genes in Space applicants, and the two hope their ISS National Lab research will shed light on new ways to help keep astronauts healthy in space and potentially lead to new treatments for people with stress-related health conditions on Earth. Learn more about these student researchers and their ISS National Lab investigation in this recent feature article from Boeing.