Yesterday I had an email from my friend Maurice Nygaard at BSI Proteomics in Maryland. Maurice tells me that there is a good chance we will get a ride in a Space Shuttle this (northern) summer. Not us, as in us guys, but "our" equipment.
BSI Proteomics are in the business of "rational drug discovery". They are experts on growing near-perfect crystals of important proteins and then analyzing them in a synchrotron to determine their exact crystal structure. Apparently, if you know the structure of a nasty protein you can then design a friendly molecule that will knock it off. The more perfect your subject crystal the better your results.
BSI Proteomics' aim is to fly their crystal growing instruments in space. With virtually zero gravity the resulting crystals will be closer to perfection and the overall results will be very much better. Better crystals = better drugs.
Their equipment is controlled by a SPLat.
Actually, this was all meant to happen back in 2003. I had a story about it in our October 2002 newsletter. Then the Colombia disaster struck in February 2003 and everything was put on hold. (I was in Florida when Colombia crashed. In fact, I was scheduled to run a seminar for NASA engineers on the Tuesday, and was woken in my hotel room on the Saturday morning with news of the crash).
Let's hope all goes well for NASA and the shuttles from here on in, and that we get a replacement for the shuttles. Apart from the human tragedies, the loss of the space program would be a tragedy for all of humanity. Be it drug discovery or Hubble, the space program is important. Very important. We are delighted that SPLat may play a role, however small, in all this (and I want tickets to the launch!)
