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Space station biomining experiment demonstrates rare earth element extraction in microgravity and Mars gravity.


ABSTRACT: Microorganisms are employed to mine economically important elements from rocks, including the rare earth elements (REEs), used in electronic industries and alloy production. We carried out a mining experiment on the International Space Station to test hypotheses on the bioleaching of REEs from basaltic rock in microgravity and simulated Mars and Earth gravities using three microorganisms and a purposely designed biomining reactor. Sphingomonas desiccabilis enhanced mean leached concentrations of REEs compared to non-biological controls in all gravity conditions. No significant difference in final yields was observed between gravity conditions, showing the efficacy of the process under different gravity regimens. Bacillus subtilis exhibited a reduction in bioleaching efficacy and Cupriavidus metallidurans showed no difference compared to non-biological controls, showing the microbial specificity of the process, as on Earth. These data demonstrate the potential for space biomining and the principles of a reactor to advance human industry and mining beyond Earth.

SUBMITTER: Cockell CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7656455 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Space station biomining experiment demonstrates rare earth element extraction in microgravity and Mars gravity.

Cockell Charles S CS   Santomartino Rosa R   Finster Kai K   Waajen Annemiek C AC   Eades Lorna J LJ   Moeller Ralf R   Rettberg Petra P   Fuchs Felix M FM   Van Houdt Rob R   Leys Natalie N   Coninx Ilse I   Hatton Jason J   Parmitano Luca L   Krause Jutta J   Koehler Andrea A   Caplin Nicol N   Zuijderduijn Lobke L   Mariani Alessandro A   Pellari Stefano S SS   Carubia Fabrizio F   Luciani Giacomo G   Balsamo Michele M   Zolesi Valfredo V   Nicholson Natasha N   Loudon Claire-Marie CM   Doswald-Winkler Jeannine J   Herová Magdalena M   Rattenbacher Bernd B   Wadsworth Jennifer J   Craig Everroad R R   Demets René R  

Nature communications 20201110 1


Microorganisms are employed to mine economically important elements from rocks, including the rare earth elements (REEs), used in electronic industries and alloy production. We carried out a mining experiment on the International Space Station to test hypotheses on the bioleaching of REEs from basaltic rock in microgravity and simulated Mars and Earth gravities using three microorganisms and a purposely designed biomining reactor. Sphingomonas desiccabilis enhanced mean leached concentrations of  ...[more]

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