NASA's current underwater mission, NEEMO, has made history after it used a DNA sequencer for the first time ever under the sea.
The DNA research is part of a 16-day NASA astronaut mission at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to prepare for travel to Mars and other deep space ventures.
First in history to sequence #DNA under the sea. So cool! @Explornaut feeds @nanopore MinION. @ESA @ISS_Research pic.twitter.com/kyNYaLlkay
— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) July 23, 2016
The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 undersea mission is designed to prepare the team for the extreme conditions they may encounter on Mars.
NASA said the mission will help them to to test tools and techniques that could be used on board future missions to the red planet.
“Much like space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live.
“NEEMO crew members, known as aquanauts, experience some of the same challenges there that they would on a distant asteroid, planet or moon.”
The research station is based 20 metres under the sea off the coast of Florida.
NASA selected an Irish doctor from NUI Galway to oversee the health of a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists involved in the mission.
Dr Derek O’Keeffe, Clinical Fellow NUI Galway, holds both biomedical engineering and medical qualifications.
He was chosen for the job due to his successful track record in prior spaceflight and extreme environment missions.
Photo: NASA
The team of scientists currently living aboard the 'Aquarius' research station includes a number of notable figures, including former astronauts Reid Wiseman and Megan Behnken.
Dr O’Keeffe will oversee the health of the group and will run several staged medical emergency scenarios to help develop protocols on crisis response in remote conditions.
He said that he hopes this mission will help us to further our understanding of medical care in remote areas.
“Telemedicine is already opening up exciting new frontiers in our everyday lives, such as providing remote care to patients in medically undeserved areas."
Dr O’Keeffe will be working with his fellow Irish colleague Dr Marc Ó Gríofa who is one of the six crew members on the NEEMO Mission.
The mission will run for the next for two weeks.
