SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
Crabs Give Blood for Space Travel 11.16.2006
Soon, astronauts onboard the ISS will test a high-tech medical device that uses primitive enzymes from horseshoe crabs to diagnose human illness.
Nov. 16, 2006: Picture this: You're on a mission to Mars, halfway there from Earth, and you're not feeling well. Your throat hurts when you swallow, your forehead is hot. You don't want to get sick or infect your crewmates. Should you take an antibiotic? If so, which kind?
With a new biological laboratory on a chip being developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in partnership with outside researchers, you may be able to get the answer in as little as five minutes.
The mini-lab goes by the maxi-acronym LOCAD-PTS, which stands for Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development–Portable Test System. The latest version is a handheld device slated for launch this December aboard shuttle mission STS-116 for testing on the International Space Station.
FOR THE REST OF THE STORY GO TO: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/16nov_locad.htm?list833780