SynBioBeta 2026: Synthetic Biology for Space Health, Closed-Loop Life Support, and Off-World Biotechnology

This collection is part of a series of SynBioBeta 2026 Research Topics. Please see other Research Topics in the collection here:SynBioBeta 2026: Programmable Molecular BiologySynBioBeta 2026: AI-Enabled Multiscale Systems Biology for Precision Medicine and Regenerative HealthAs humanity moves toward sustained presence beyond Earth, the biological sciences are emerging as a critical enabling technology for long-duration spaceflight, planetary exploration, and the eventual establishment of off-world communities. The challenges of operating in extreme extraterrestrial environments, including microgravity, ionizing radiation, resource scarcity, and physical isolation, demand radically new approaches to life support, medicine, food production, and materials manufacturing. Synthetic biology, with its capacity to rationally design and engineer biological systems, offers a powerful toolkit for meeting these challenges in ways that conventional engineering alone cannot.This Research Topic sits at the intersection of synthetic biology, systems biology, genetics, space medicine, biotechnology, and sustainability science. It brings together researchers working across molecular, cellular, and systems scales to address translational engineering challenges at the frontier of human exploration. A central premise of this topic is that biology is not merely a passenger in space exploration, but an active and versatile platform for building resilient, adaptive, and resource-efficient systems far from Earth. Crucially, the innovations pursued in this context are not confined to space alone. Closed-loop biological systems, bioregenerative technologies, and compact biomanufacturing platforms developed for off-world applications hold significant promise for resource-limited, remote, or otherwise extreme environments on Earth, from polar research stations and disaster response settings to arid agricultural regions and low-infrastructure communities. This bidirectional exchange between space biology and terrestrial sustainability is a defining feature of the field and a key motivation for this Research Topic.We invite original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and methods papers that advance our understanding of how engineered biological systems can support human and biological resilience in extreme and extraterrestrial environments. Submissions from both fundamental and applied research are welcome, and interdisciplinary contributions are especially encouraged.Themes for submission include, but are not limited to:• Engineered microorganisms and plants for in situ resource utilization (ISRU), including nutrient cycling, mineral extraction, and regolith processing.• Bioregenerative life-support systems, including closed-loop approaches to air revitalization, water recycling, and waste processing.• Space-compatible biomanufacturing platforms for the production of food, pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, and fine chemicals under microgravity or partial-gravity conditions.• Biosensors and point-of-care diagnostics for monitoring astronaut health, detecting pathogens, and tracking physiological status in remote environments.• Radiation-resilient biological systems, including the characterization and engineering of organisms or molecular pathways with enhanced tolerance to ionizing radiation.• Microbiome engineering for human health maintenance during spaceflight, including strategies for managing dysbiosis, immune function, and gut homeostasis in isolated crews.• Synthetic biology approaches to compact and autonomous food production, including microalgae cultivation, precision fermentation, and plant growth in controlled environments.• Genetic and epigenetic responses to spaceflight stressors, including microgravity adaptation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage repair.• Earth analogue studies and closed-loop system demonstrations in extreme terrestrial environments, such as Antarctic stations, deep-sea habitats, or arid remote settings.• Ethical, regulatory, and biosafety frameworks for deploying engineered organisms beyond Earth.• Computational modelling and systems-level approaches to designing and predicting the behavior of synthetic biological systems in non-terrestrial contexts.• Cross-disciplinary integration of space science, engineering, and the life sciences for mission-relevant biotechnology development.Topic Editor Dr. Volker Hessel serves as Chief Investigator and Program Lead 'Processes' at the ARC Centre of Excellence “Plants for Space” (P4S). Topic editors: Volker Hessel, Matteo Becatti, Ali Abbas Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81131/synbiobeta-2026-synthetic-biology-for-space-health-closed-loop-life-support-and-off-world-biotechnology