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

Charles S. Cockell; Rosa Santomartino; Kai Finster; Annemiek C. Waajen; Lorna J. Eades; Ralf Moeller; Petra Rettberg; Felix Fuchs; Rob Van Houdt; Natalie Leys; Ilse Coninx; Jason Hatton; Luca Parmitano; Jutta Krause; Andrea Koehler; Nicol Caplin; Lobke Zuijderduijn; René Demets; Alessandro Mariani; Stefano S. Pellari; Fabrizio  Carubia; Giacomo Luciani; Michele Balsamo; Valfredo Zolesi; Jeannine Doswald-Winkler; Magdalena Herova; Bernd Rattenbacher; Jennifer Wadsworth; Craig R. Everroad

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w

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

Charles S. Cockell, Rosa Santomartino, Kai Finster, Annemiek C. Waajen, Lorna J. Eades, Ralf Moeller, Petra Rettberg, Felix Fuchs, Rob Van Houdt, Natalie Leys, Ilse Coninx, Jason Hatton, Luca Parmitano, Jutta Krause, Andrea Koehler, Nicol Caplin, Lobke Zuijderduijn, René Demets, Alessandro Mariani, Stefano S. PellariFabrizio Carubia, Giacomo Luciani, Michele Balsamo, Valfredo Zolesi, Jeannine Doswald-Winkler, Magdalena Herova, Bernd Rattenbacher, Jennifer Wadsworth, Craig R. Everroad

Research output › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Article number	5523
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w
State	Published - 10 Nov 2020

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Cite this

Cockell, C. S., Santomartino, R., Finster, K., Waajen, A. C., Eades, L. J., Moeller, R., Rettberg, P., Fuchs, F., Van Houdt, R., Leys, N., Coninx, I., Hatton, J., Parmitano, L., Krause, J., Koehler, A., Caplin, N., Zuijderduijn, L., Demets, R., Mariani, A., ... Everroad, C. R. (2020). Space station biomining experiment demonstrates rare earth element extraction in microgravity and Mars gravity. Nature Communications, 11, 1-11. Article 5523. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w

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title = "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.",

keywords = "ISS, International Space Station, Rare earth elements, Cupriavidus",

author = "Cockell, {Charles S.} and Rosa Santomartino and Kai Finster and Waajen, {Annemiek C.} and Eades, {Lorna J.} and Ralf Moeller and Petra Rettberg and Felix Fuchs and {Van Houdt}, Rob and Natalie Leys and Ilse Coninx and Jason Hatton and Luca Parmitano and Jutta Krause and Andrea Koehler and Nicol Caplin and Lobke Zuijderduijn and Ren{\'e} Demets and Alessandro Mariani and Pellari, {Stefano S.} and Fabrizio Carubia and Giacomo Luciani and Michele Balsamo and Valfredo Zolesi and Jeannine Doswald-Winkler and Magdalena Herova and Bernd Rattenbacher and Jennifer Wadsworth and Everroad, {Craig R.}",

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Cockell, CS, Santomartino, R, Finster, K, Waajen, AC, Eades, LJ, Moeller, R, Rettberg, P, Fuchs, F, Van Houdt, R , Leys, N , Coninx, I, Hatton, J, Parmitano, L, Krause, J, Koehler, A, Caplin, N, Zuijderduijn, L, Demets, R, Mariani, A, Pellari, SS, Carubia, F, Luciani, G, Balsamo, M, Zolesi, V, Doswald-Winkler, J, Herova, M, Rattenbacher, B, Wadsworth, J & Everroad, CR 2020, 'Space station biomining experiment demonstrates rare earth element extraction in microgravity and Mars gravity', Nature Communications, vol. 11, 5523, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w

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AU - Cockell, Charles S.

AU - Santomartino, Rosa

AU - Finster, Kai

AU - Waajen, Annemiek C.

AU - Eades, Lorna J.

AU - Moeller, Ralf

AU - Rettberg, Petra

AU - Fuchs, Felix

AU - Van Houdt, Rob

AU - Leys, Natalie

AU - Coninx, Ilse

AU - Hatton, Jason

AU - Parmitano, Luca

AU - Krause, Jutta

AU - Koehler, Andrea

AU - Caplin, Nicol

AU - Zuijderduijn, Lobke

AU - Demets, René

AU - Mariani, Alessandro

AU - Pellari, Stefano S.

AU - Carubia, Fabrizio

AU - Luciani, Giacomo

AU - Balsamo, Michele

AU - Zolesi, Valfredo

AU - Doswald-Winkler, Jeannine

AU - Herova, Magdalena

AU - Rattenbacher, Bernd

AU - Wadsworth, Jennifer

AU - Everroad, Craig R.

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PY - 2020/11/10

Y1 - 2020/11/10

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - ISS

KW - International Space Station

KW - Rare earth elements

KW - Cupriavidus

UR - https://ecm.sckcen.be/OTCS/llisapi.dll/open/41515016

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w

DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w

M3 - Article

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JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

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