Advanced Technology

Space travel poses numerous challenges to human health and productivity.  Future, long-duration space travel beyond Earth orbit will depend on technologies that will help space-faring crews meet and surmount those challenges.

The Biological Systems Office (BSO) at NASA Johnson Space Center is dedicated to the development and use of advanced technologies that will enable the next generation of space flight.  Ground-based and flight bioreactors yield important insight into cell and tissue development.  BSO-supported research also contributes to next-generation medical technologies, such as implantable sensors that monitor health from inside the body.

Contributions to US Industry

We make every effort to transfer NASA technologies to the private sector, thus creating jobs, improving productivity, and increasing U.S. competitiveness.

We are very proud of the numerous patents we have been awarded for innovations in cell culture technology, which are widely used throughout academia and industry.

Patents for bioreactor and cell culturing processes using the bioreactor

• 20 patents issued (19 licensed), 5 applications pending

Patents for microencapsulation

• 3 patents issued (1 licensed), 3 patents pending

Patents for cancer cell testing

• One patent issued, 2 disclosures submitted

Patents in preparation

• A Rapid Process for Controlled Enzymatic Degradation of Polymeric Scaffolds for 3-D Tissue Engineering
• Cell Culture Device and Method for Production of Newborn Mammalian Cells in a Rotation Bioreactor Disclosures
• Cytokine and Interferon (MSC-23276-1)
• An Optical Oxygen Sensor Based on Fluorescent Quenching Using Pulsed Blue LED Light Source And Its Control Software (MSC - 23513 -1)
• Microencapsulation, Microcapsule Flow Sensor (MSC-23277-1)

Contributions from Small Businesses

The Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program was established by Congress in 1982.  It decrees that a certain percent of NASA's budget must be devoted to small business participation in federal research and development.  As a result, the SBIR Program helps to stimulate U.S. innovation in technology, increases reliance on small businesses to meet federal R&D needs, increases commercialization and transfer of federal R&D efforts, and improves U.S. competitiveness in the global market.

NASA's SBIR topics and sub-topics are announced each summer, with award notification released several months later.  The BSO manages several SBIR projects under the subtopic Understanding and Utilizing Gravitational Effects on Molecular Biology and for Medical Applications.  NASA's STTR solicitations are released on the same schedule, but are much more limited in scale.  NASA Centers are allowed to submit an STTR topic on a rotating schedule, so not every Center manages a topic every year.

The following table summarizes NASA SBIR phases and objectives:

Phase	Maximum Funding	Objective
I	$70K	Establish the feasibility and technical merit of proposed innovation
II	$600K	Continues most promising Phase I projects with major R&D effort; more emphasis on commercial potential, especially in areas that meet NASA's mission and needs
III	Variable1	Integrates Phase II results into regular NASA programs, or markets them to other government agencies or private sector

¹ No longer funded by SBIR program but can be funded by contracts and/or private sector investment

View BSO SBIRs:

+ 2002 Phase I
+ 2001 Phase I
+ 2000 - 2001 Phase II

Learn More:

+ NASA SBIR Program
+ JSC Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office
+ Bioreactors
+ Sensors
+ Microencapsulation and Other Technologies