Nasa plans to use biobricks and urine to build homes on Mars

In the future, space explorers will travel to planets with a suitcase full of engineered microbes to
help us build a life -- including a bacterium that breaks down urea into chemicals that will
cement dusty Mars rock into bricks.
The idea is, instead of hauling supplies to space, we make what we need using a nifty carry-on
filled with billions of spaceworthy bugs that multiply by feeding on local materials. These
microbes will be engineered to help create things like fuel, plastics and cement.
The project is part of a two-year long collaboration between Nasa and synthetic biologists at
Brown and Stanford universities. The team insert specially engineered gene sequences, known
as biobricks, into microbes to cause their behaviour to change dramatically. With biocement
project REGObricks, for instance, the team makes use of use theSporosarcina
pasteurii bacterium, which breaks down urea and produces ammonium. This ammonium would
make the Mars landscape alkaline enough for calcium carbonate cements to form.
The idea is a group of new Mars residents can feed the bacteria with their urine to make enough
calcium carbonate crystals to glue together dusty Mars sand and rock, making building bricks.
Ordinary Sporosarcina pasteurii might not be sturdy enough in the atmosphere, so they
identified and extracted the genetic sequence that helps in cement-building and inserted this into
the E. coli bacteria. Thus, the team hopes Mars bricks will be made using biobricks.
On their website, the synthetic biologists explain that "the crystals aggregate in the gaps between
sand particles, linking them in tight compact structures", and that during experiments this process
was shown to generate bricks with "compressive strengths up to 30 megapascals, comparable to
that of concrete or limestone". According to a report inNew Scientist, this process took two
weeks.
It's not just space bricks that could be created using synthetic biology. Small bacteria boxes
accompanying astronauts could contain billions of helpful microbes. Another key bacterium is
Anabaena, which can exist in carbon dioxide and nitrogen-rich alien atmospheres. Anabaena can
not only thrive in these conditions, but it converts those gases to sugars. By inserting a biobrick
from E.coli into Anabaena, the team increased its sugar output, which could then be used to feed
other oil, plastics or fuel-building microbes brought along.
According to MRC Laboratory molecular biologist Paul Dear, synthetic biology will be the only
way to building a life on Mars.
"Every gram delivered to Mars or other planets translates into huge additional costs and energy
demands. Biology rather than physical engineering is the only realistic way to do things on a
planetary scale," Dear said.
Bio-manufactured Brick Process:
Here are the 12 simple steps for reproducing Dosiers competition-winning idea (visit the
Metropolis site to view the full diagram showing each step).
1. Place the formwork in the sand.
2. Fill it up.

3. Level.
4. Shake the bacteria solution.
5. Pour it over the sand.
6. Let it saturate.
7. Pour the cementing solution over the sand.
8. Let it saturate.
9. Watch the brick harden.
10. Remove the formwork.
11. Watch the brick harden some more.
12. Behold, an ecobrick!
If these bricks were adopted worldwide, they would reduce CO2 emissions by 800 million tons a
year. Dosier isnt the first to dabble at the crossroads of microbiology and chemistry, nor is she
alone in trying to green the humble brick. Dosiers act of alchemy was to apply science to design.
The strategic redesign of something as simple as a building block shows that so many of the
things we take for granted have profound effects on our lives, and our environments.