著者
片山 直美 山下 雅道 和田 秀徳 三橋 淳 Space Agriculture Task Force
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.20, no.2, pp.48-56, 2006 (Released:2007-04-13)
参考文献数
17

Concept of space agriculture is developed for habitation on Mars. Space diet is designed and evaluated with nutritional point of view. Combination of rice, soybean, sweet potato, green-yellow vegetable (represented by Komatsuna), silkworm pupa, and loach was found to fill the nutritional requirements.
著者
片山 直美
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.21, no.2, pp.21-26, 2007 (Released:2007-12-26)
参考文献数
16

We scope space exploration beyond the low Earth orbit, such as manned activities on Moon and Mars. The advanced life support system is required to create and maintain living environment in outer space by providing foods, cloths and habitat. We shall prepare effective measures for promoting health and preventing illness, as well. Since astronauts would be exposed to various stressful situation, it is highly requested to feed them healthy meal with a good balance of its nutrients, which maintain inner environment of digestive organ at its proper condition. It is also important to prevent diarrhea and constipation, or to enhance willpower and physical strength of astronauts, by feeding them with good nutritious and ingestible materials. The lactic acid bacterium beverage (containing 80 billion Lactobacillus casei shirota) was given, every day for one month, to 10 healthy female subjects (20.4 ± 0.51 years old) who suffer constipation, together with another 10 subjects for the control with dead bacteria in the same beverage. Status of their constipation was examined by their reporting of number of evacuation, shape of the evacuation, their self awareness on their status. The average stool frequency increased in both the experiment and the control group from the first week of administration. In the experiment group, six among ten subjects showed improvement of clear constipation. Since seven out of ten control subjects did not show improvement in their constipation, administration of live lactic acid bacterium is effective for improving constipation. The L-casei shirota lactic acid bacterium stock helps the action of Bifidobacterium bifidum to keep bowels in normal state. Without proper population of Bifidobacterium bifidum, such conditioning is not effective. Administration of both bacterium species is required in such case. In the future space missions, intake of the lactic acid bacterium would be one of effective measures to maintain astronaut's bowel in good condition and contribute to enhance their health and productivity in their task of space exploration.
著者
和田 秀徳
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.21, no.4, pp.135-141, 2007 (Released:2008-09-02)
被引用文献数
1 2

Agriculture on Earth has developed at several areas in various ecosystems during long periods after the end of the final glaciation by replacing natural producers with crops and by making human as a sole cousumer mainly through the method of trial and error. On the contrary, agriculture on Mars should be created rapidly and unmistakably under natural conditions completely different from those on Earth. In addition, the agriculture on Mars should supply clean water and air as well as foods necessary for sustaining the emigrants to Mars. This can be achieved by a strategy consisting of two stages. The first stage is to modify the air, water, and debris inside an artificial dome somewhat similar to those on Earth. The second stage is to establish a sustainable agriculture on Mars. These two stages are discussed rather in detail.
著者
内山 実 上条 雅 松田 恒平 吉沢 英樹
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.14, no.1, pp.22-31, 2000 (Released:2006-02-01)
参考文献数
56
被引用文献数
1 1

The Amphibia bridge the phyletic gap between the aquatic fishes and the terrestrial vertebrates. This transition has involved many interesting changes of metabolisms. In this short review, we have attempted to summarize the kidney structure and functions on the osmoregulations in the Amphibia. Amphibians excrete the water absorbed through their skin as a dilute urine. Pronephros of tadpoles may start to work in the hatching stages and metanephros is well developed and functions. Glomerular filtration rate is relatively large and glomerular intermittency is important to regulate urine production. The proximal tubule reabsorbs approximately 20-45% of filtered water and sodium. Absorption is driven by the basolateral Na+, K+-ATPase common to all tubular cells. The diluting segment, early parts of distal nephron, highly develops basolateral interdigitation and reabsorbs approximately 40% of filtered Na+, K+, and Cl-, but is impermeable to water, thus this part results in the formation of hypo-osmotic tubular fluid. In the late distal tubule, the primary mechanism of reabsorption may be via a luminal NaCl synporter, driven by the ubiquitous Na+, K+-ATPase on basolateral membrane. In collecting tubule, there are two types of cells, the principal cells and the intercalated cells. Many hormonal and nervous regulations are involved in the glomerular filtration rate and reabsorptions in the amphibian nephrons.
著者
小林 憲正
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.20, no.1, pp.3-9, 2006 (Released:2006-09-06)
参考文献数
7
被引用文献数
1 1

A wide variety of experiments have been conducted to synthesize bioorganic compounds such as amino acids since Miller's historical discharge experiments in 1953. Amino acids were easily obtained from strongly reducing gas mixtures. Even if the primitive Earth atmosphere was less reducing, amino acid precursors could be formed by using high-energy radiations. Extraterrestrial organics were another plausible sources of amino acids, and were contained possible seeds of homochirality of bioorganic molecules. There have been controversies concerning the first catalytic molecules in primordial soup. Some of the hypotheses are reviewed, including the RNA world, the Fe-S world and the garbage-bag world.
著者
星 元紀
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.20, no.1, pp.15-20, 2006 (Released:2006-09-06)

Sex is the sole physiological mechanism to reshuffle the genes within a species. Although sex is widely observed among living organisms, and although its importance for the continuity of life is well accepted, it has been an enigma in Evolutionary Biology. This paper presents a view of a biologist on the living world in relation to the sex and reproduction.
著者
山下 雅道 馬場 昭次
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.18, no.1, pp.13-27, 2004 (Released:2005-12-20)
参考文献数
40
被引用文献数
1

Gravity is a force that acts on mass. Biological effects of gravity and their magnitude depend on scale of mass and difference in density. One significant contribution of space biology is confirmation of direct action of gravity even at the cellular level. Since cell is the elementary unit of life, existence of primary effects of gravity on cells leads to establish the firm basis of gravitational biology. However, gravity is not limited to produce its biological effects on molecules and their reaction networks that compose living cells. Biological system has hierarchical structure with layers of organism, group, and ecological system, which emerge from the system one layer down. Influence of gravity is higher at larger mass. In addition to this, actions of gravity in each layer are caused by process and mechanism that is subjected and different in each layer of the hierarchy. Because of this feature, summing up gravitational action on cells does not explain gravity for biological system at upper layers. Gravity at ecological system or organismal level can not reduced to cellular mechanism. Size of cells and organisms is one of fundamental characters of them and a determinant in their design of form and function. Size closely relates to other physical quantities, such as mass, volume, and surface area. Gravity produces weight of mass. Organisms are required to equip components to support weight and to resist against force that arise at movement of body or a part of it. Volume and surface area associate with mass and heat transport process at body. Gravity dominates those processes by inducing natural convection around organisms. This review covers various elements and process, with which gravity make influence on living systems, chosen on the basis of biology of size. Cells and biochemical networks are under the control of organism to integrate a consolidated form. How cells adjust metabolic rate to meet to the size of the composed organism, whether is gravity responsible for this feature, are subject we discuss in this article. Three major topics in gravitational and space biology are; how living systems have been adapted to terrestrial gravity and evolved, how living systems respond to exotic gravitational environment, and whether living systems could respond and adapt to microgravity. Biology of size can contribute to find a way to answer these question, and answer why gravity is important in biology, at explaining why gravity has been a dominant factor through the evolutional history on the earth.
著者
高沖 宗夫
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.21, no.3, pp.76-83, 2007 (Released:2007-12-26)
参考文献数
49
被引用文献数
2

Nearly 50 multicelluar animal species have ever been flown on the near earth orbit or further. Animals used in space experiments range from Primates to Cnidaria. Widely used laboratory animals on the ground, such as rats and fruit flies, are frequently flown species. Mice, however, seem less popular in space experiments, probably because of their relatively poor resistance to the stressful space environment. To keep rodents onboard the space craft in a health state requires tremendous efforts. Moreover, the use of rodents onboard the International Space Station (ISS) has become extremely difficult, due to the cancellation of the Centrifuge facility. Rearing fish in space, on the other hand, is easier than to keep rodents, since their waste excretions are borne by the water flow and can be effectively removed by filtering. Fish are suitable model for the studies on development, radiation effects and vestibular functions. Among fish, Medaka (Oryzias latipes) will be the most useful species for space experiments, with the inventory of inbred and mutant strains, their genome sequence data, and the established gene knockout technologies. Medaka together with established small laboratory animals, such as C. elegans, are most promising species for the experiments onboard the ISS. Other unique groups of animals in space experiment are those inhabit in the arid area. These animals, such as Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), generally require few drinking water and produce little amount of waste. This enables flight hardware being simpler. Although the lack of their genome sequence data is a big drawback, they are useful for space experiments, especially for those utilizing recoverable capsule satellites.
著者
高沖 宗夫
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.22, no.4, pp.193-199, 2008 (Released:2010-08-06)
参考文献数
21

医学生物学の分野において環境因子としての重力は余り重視されていない。重力が一定不変であるためその役割が気づかれ難い事の他に、その作用が他の因子とは異なるため実験的に扱い難い点が大きな障害になっていると考えられる。重力と生物の関わりを研究するためには、主体である生物が重力に関係する現象をどのように捉え処理しているかという観点から、重力を記号(sign)として扱う生物記号論(biosemiotics)を適用することの必要性を論じる。
著者
矢沢 勇樹 齋藤 麻衣子 武田 弘
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.21, no.4, pp.129-134, 2007 (Released:2008-09-02)
被引用文献数
3

In order to evaluate feasibility of synthesizing ecological system on Moon and Mars for sustaining human life there, it is required to prepare environment, which enables to support photosynthetic activity of plants. Surface materials, crust over mantle and thin soil layer, are important factor for life. Evolution of surface materials, including weathering of minerals, is compared between Earth, Moon and Mars.
著者
加藤 千明 高井 研
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.14, no.4, pp.341-352, 2000 (Released:2006-02-01)
参考文献数
44
被引用文献数
5 7

Knowledge of our Planet's biosphere has increased tremendously during the last 10 to 20 years. In the field of Microbiology in particular, scientists have discovered novel “extremophiles”, microorganisms capable of living in extreme environments such as highly acidic or alkaline conditions, at high salt concentration, with no oxygen, extreme temperatures (as low as -20°C and as high as 300°C), at high concentrations of heavy metals and in high pressure environments such as the deep-sea. It is apparent that microorganisms can exist in any extreme environment of the Earth, yet already scientists have started to look for life on other planets; the so-called “Exobiology” project. But as yet we have little knowledge of the deep-sea and subsurface biosphere of our own planet. We believe that we should elucidate the Biodiversity of Earth more thoroughly before exploring life on other planets, and these attempts would provide deeper insight into clarifying the existence of extraterrestrial life. We focused on two deep-sea extremophiles in this article; one is “Piezophiles”, and another is “Hyperthermophiles”. Piezophiles are typical microorganisms adapted to high-pressure and cold temperature environments, and located in deep-sea bottom. Otherwise, hyperthermophiles are living in high temperature environment, and located at around the hydrothermal vent systems in deep-sea. They are not typical deep-sea microorganisms, but they can grow well at high-pressure condition, just like piezophiles. Deming and Baross mentioned that most of the hyperthermophilic archaea isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents are able to grow under conditions of high temperature and pressure, and in most cases their optimal pressure for growth was greater than the environmental pressure they were isolated from. It is possible that originally their native environment may have been deeper than the sea floor and that there had to be a deeper biosphere. This implication suggests that the deep-sea hydrothermal vents are the windows to a deep subsurface biosphere. A vast array of chemoautotrophic deep-sea animal communities have been found to exist in cold seep environments, and most of these animals are common with those found in hydrothermal vent environments. Thus, it is possible to consider that the cold seeps are also one of slit windows to a deep subsurface biosphere. We conclude that the deep-sea extremophiles are very closely related into the unseen majority in subsurface biosphere, and the subsurface biosphere probably concerns to consider the “exobiology”.
著者
山下 雅道 内藤 富夫 Wassersug Richard J.
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.16, no.4, pp.245-270, 2002 (Released:2006-01-31)
参考文献数
94
被引用文献数
1 1

We review here the scientific significance of the use of amphibians for research in gravitational biology. Since amphibian eggs are quite large, yet develop rapidly and externally, it is easy to observe their development. Consequently amphibians were the first vertebrates to have their early developmental processes investigated in space. Though several deviations from normal embryonic development occur when amphibians are raised in microgravity, their developmental program is robust enough to return the organisms to an ostensibly normal morphology by the time they hatch. Evolutionally, amphibians were the first vertebrate animal to come out of the water and onto land. Subsequently they diversified and have adaptively radiated to various habitats. They now inhabit aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal and fossorial niches. This diversity can be used to help study the biological effects of gravity at the organismal level, where macroscopic phenomena are associated with gravitational loading. By choosing different amphibian models and using a comparative approach one can effectively identify the action of gravity on biological systems, and the adaptation that vertebrates have made to this loading. Advances in cellular and molecular biology provide powerful tools for the study in many fields, including gravitational biology, and amphibians have proven to be good models for studies at those levels as well. The low metabolic rates of amphibians make them convenient organisms to work with (compared to birds and mammals) in the difficult and confined spaces on orbiting research platforms. We include here a review of what is known about and the potential for further behavioral and physiological researches in space using amphibians.
著者
三橋 淳
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.21, no.4, pp.124-128, 2007 (Released:2008-09-02)
被引用文献数
1 3

Application of insects is discussed for pleasant living in closed space environment. Insects are useful in various way. Some insects are quite effective to process metabolic waste and dead body of animals. Larvae of flies are candidate insect useful in space agriculture. Because of shorter life cycle of fly compared to silkworm, its proliferation rate is much greater than silkworm. It is a problem of culture whether the consumption of fly larvae to recycle dead human body could be acceptable in space agriculture.
著者
山岸 明彦
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.19, no.4, pp.268-275, 2005 (Released:2006-09-06)
被引用文献数
1

Several aspects of early evolution of life has been studied in several different research fields including planetary science, earth physics, geology, chemical evolution, environmental microbiology and molecular evolution. In this review I have summarized the recent results of geology, environmental microbiology on deep-sea hydrothermal area, and our recent studies on the common ancestor of all the living organisms on the earth (Commonote). The possible scenario on the origin and early evolution of life is also discussed.
著者
跡見 順子
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.22, no.4, pp.172-180, 2008 (Released:2010-08-06)
参考文献数
5

「進化」においても「発達」においても、ヒトは重力に抗して二足で「自立」し行動するようになる。直立姿勢では、脊椎を重力に対し平行な状態に保つために、脊椎を支持する筋を常時活動させている。「丹田」として意識に上る部位はほぼ立位時の身体重心に相応する。それ故自分の身体の重心をコントロールする技でもある。と同時に四足歩行では下垂しても腹壁で支えられていた内蔵を、立位では骨盤を取り巻く骨盤底筋・腹筋などの筋収縮により下方への落下を防ぐ必要がでてくる。これらの筋に力を籠める、いわゆる「丹田に力を入れる」ことを意識的して習慣にすることは、歩行時の転倒を予防し、長期的には人間の尊厳において最も必要な「排泄の自立」を保証するための最低限の筋肉の維持が可能になる。重力場での二足歩行直立への進化の研究は、高齢社会を生き抜く知恵を私たちにもたらすだろう。
著者
土山 明
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.10, no.4, pp.262-270, 1996
被引用文献数
4

Possible relic biogenic activity in martian meteorite ALH84001 was proposed by McKay et al. (Science, 273,924-930, 1996). This ancient meteorite of 4.5 billion years old contains abundant carbonates as secondary minerals precipitated from a fluid on the martian surface. They showed the following lines of evidence for the ancient life; (1 ) unique mineral compositions and biominerals, (2) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in association with the carbonates, and (3) unique structures and morphologies typical of nannobacteria or microfossils. This review is divided into two parts; one is on the martian meteorites in general and ALH84001, which has many features unlike other martian meteorites, and the other is on mineralogical (biomineralogical) and geochemical features of the carbonates and microfossil-like structures. There is little doubt that ALH84001 is from Mars as well as eleven other SNC meteorites. However, the mineralogical and biomineralogical evidence for martian bacteria given by McKay et al. (1996) is controversial, and could be formed by non-biogenic processes. Thus, further study of ALH84001 and other martian meteorites is required. We also need to consider the future Mars mission especially sample return mission.
著者
小池 惇平
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.10, no.4, pp.283-288, 1996 (Released:2006-02-01)
参考文献数
11

In connection with quarantine for interplanetary mission, we have examined the survivalities of terrestrial microorganisms under simulated Mars condition [I-91. In this study, the Mars conditions were simulated by ultraviolet and proton irradiation under similar low temperature, high vacuum and gaseous conditions by using cryostat vehicle. After exposure to the simulated Mars conditions, the survivabilities of the organisms were examined. From the results,the spores of Bacillus subtilis, the spores of Aspergillus niger, some anaerobic bacteria and algae showed considerable high survivalities even after UV and proton irradiations corresponding to 200 years on Mars. This subject is not restricted to academic curiosity but concerns problems involving the contamination of Mars with terrestrial organisms carried by space-probes. If there is a possibility that the terrestrial organisms carried from Earth to Mars can live for a significant period on Mars, a contamination of the Mars should be prevented for the purpose of life-detection-experiments in future.
著者
Takeshi Naganuma Hirohiko Uematsu
出版者
日本宇宙生物科学会
雑誌
Biological Sciences in Space (ISSN:09149201)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.12, no.2, pp.126-130, 1998 (Released:2006-02-01)
参考文献数
25
被引用文献数
5 10

Liquid water, underwater volcanoes and possibly life forms have been suggested to be present beneath the estimated 10 km-thick ice shell of Europa, the Jovian satellite J2. Europa's possible ocean is estimated to be 100-200 km deep. Despite the great depth of the Europa's ocean, hydrostatic pressure at the seafloor would be 130-260 MPa, corresponding to 13-26 km depth of a theoretical Earth's ocean. The hydrostatic pressure is not beyond the edge of existing deep-sea technology. Here we propose exploration of Europa's deep-sea by the use of current technologies, taking a symbolic example of a deep submergence vehicle Shinkai 6500 which dives to a depth of 6.5 km deep (50 km depth of Europa's ocean). Shinkai 6500 is embarkable in the payload bay of the Space Shuttles in terms of size and weight for the transportation to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Secondary boost is needed for interplanetary flight from the LEO.On-orbit assembly of the secondary booster is a technological challenge. The International Space Station (ISS) and ISS-related technologies will facilitate the secondary boost. Also, ice shell drilling is a challenge and is needed before the dive into Europa's ocean. These challenges should be overcome during a certain leading time for matured experience in the ISS operation.