WEBVTT

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Everything eventually degrades or gets used
up. Nothing lasts forever.

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As humanity prepares to go onto the next frontier
of exploration into deep space, it will be

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impossible to carry everything they’ll ever
need.

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Away from the warmth of our sun’s light,
life is hard.

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Even though advances have been made for food
production in microgravity conditions of space,

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there is still the constant need for medical
supplies in cases of injury or disease.

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Space pioneers will have to spend hundreds
of years before they reach another star.

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Thus, we decided to work on the production
of CELLULALT, a bacterial cellulose with copolymers

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of chitin and cellulose, that could be produced
by a modified bacteria with chitin assembling

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genes obtained from baker’s yeast.

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CELLULALT could be used to make all kinds
of biodegradable materials ranging from slow-release

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pills for sustained drug delivery, to even
scaffolds for tissue regeneration.

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CELLULALT can also be turned into food that
is rich in dietary fiber.

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This GENETICALLY MODIFIED new bacteria would
allow astronauts to use organic waste and

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grow CELLULALT to create all kinds of things
that they would need, making a loop of waste

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to bacterial cellulose to products and back
to biodegradable waste again.

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On Earth, the same bacteria could be used
to make biomaterials using local organic waste,

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thus helping to solve global problems of inequality
in medical resources, reduce carbon footprint

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due to transportation and promote sustainable
waste management.

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In space, this new bacterium will make deep
space exploration more sustainable, and even

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more self-reliant.

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Most important of all, it will help space-farers
not only survive but thrive as they complete

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their mission and reach their destination
and take humanity onto the next frontier.