{"id":7,"date":"2026-08-17T08:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T07:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T07:47:27","slug":"laboratories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/laboratories\/","title":{"rendered":"Laboratories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/university.open.ac.uk\/stem\/environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.stem.environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/files\/images\/astrobiology-facilities.jpg\" alt=\"Microbiological safety cabinets with gloves\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The astrobiology facilities are furnished with standard equipment used to isolate and culture aerobic microorganisms; microbiological safety cabinets, autoclaves, microscopes, and an incubator room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What makes these laboratories stand out are our anaerobic microbiology capabilities. We have a gas purging station for creating anaerobic growth media, a separate dedicated anaerobic gas mix for charging Wheaton tube headspace, and both Don Whitley and Coy anaerobic chambers for inoculating and sub-culturing anaerobic microorganisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our most recent addition to the laboratories is a series of MicrobeMeters used to determine the optical density of anaerobic microorganisms in-situ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Molecular Biology Laboratories<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/university.open.ac.uk\/stem\/environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.stem.environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/files\/images\/Molecular-Biology-Laboratories.jpg\" alt=\"Results of a molecular biology experiment - grey horizontal bars on a black background\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many samples analysed in the Astrobiology Laboratories originate from extreme environments across the world. Extracting nucleic acids from these habitats takes patience and a great deal of method development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To prevent cross-contamination our facilities separate out nucleic acid extraction, PCR preparation and PCR into three distinct areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coming soon: a facility dedicated to extracting nucleic acid from low-biomass environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Equipment of interest includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>FastPrep24 and FastPrep24 5G homogenisers;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SpeedVac SPD130 vacuum concentrator;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Qiagen\u2019s BLU-V system;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Various PCR machines including gradient PCR;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>QuantStudio 3 real-time qPCR machine;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NanoDrop One<sup>TM\u00a0<\/sup>UV-Vis spectrophotometer;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Qubit<sup>TM<\/sup>\u00a02 fluorometer;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gel Doc HR+ gel documentation system;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invitrogen\u2122 Novex\u2122 WedgeWell\u2122 protein electrophoresis system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have any questions or want to find out more about our Astrobiology and Molecular Biology Facilities, please contact:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/stem.open.ac.uk\/people\/cg8474\">Ceri Gwyther.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Environmental simulation chambers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/university.open.ac.uk\/stem\/environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.stem.environment-earth-ecosystem-sciences\/files\/images\/Environmental-simulation-chambers%20.jpg\" alt=\"Various size valves on a workbench\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Environmental simulation chambers are used to reproduce, as far as possible, the near- and sub-surface environments of Mars and the icy moons of Europa and Enceladus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The continuous flow-through reactors allow researchers to sample the chemistry and\/or the microbiology of these systems under a range of different temperatures and pressures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We currently have four reactors, the specifications of which can be found below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Environmental simulation chamber<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Chamber volume (ml)<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Temperature range (\u00b0C)<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Pressure range (bar)<\/th><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">MSS<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">300<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Ambient to 350<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Atmosphere to 50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">IM<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">600<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">-10 to 150<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Atmosphere to 100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Chamber 3<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">600<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">-10 to 150<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Atmosphere to 100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Chamber 4<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">600<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">-10 to 150<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Atmosphere to 100<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alongside the continuous flow-through reactors, we have a range of static reactors which are used to analyse the chemistry of various regolith compositions and water-rock interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Haskel air intensifiers are used to increase the pressure achievable from a standard 200bar gas cylinder to a high 345bar, which would be the equivalent of simulating the pressures at a depth of 3.5km beneath the surface of Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, in this facility we have a Swagelok gas mixing station for bespoke gas mix make up for use in the simulated environmental chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have any questions or want to find out more about our Environmental Simulation Chambers, please contact:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/stem.open.ac.uk\/people\/dnj27\">David Johnson.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The astrobiology facilities are furnished with standard equipment used to isolate and culture aerobic microorganisms; microbiological safety cabinets, autoclaves, microscopes, and an incubator room. What makes these laboratories stand out are our anaerobic microbiology capabilities. We have a gas purging station for creating anaerobic growth media, a separate dedicated anaerobic gas mix for charging Wheaton [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_unity_news_pull_enabled":false,"_unity_news_feed_url":"","_unity_news_items_per_page":10,"_unity_pubs_pull_enabled":false,"_unity_pubs_orocus":"","_unity_pubs_project_group":"","_unity_pubs_items_per_page":10,"footnotes":""},"unity_related_person":[],"unity_sdg":[],"unity_research_theme":[],"unity_strategic_priority":[],"unity_enabler":[],"unity_general_category":[],"unity_stem_unit":[],"unity_related_project":[],"unity_related_archived_project":[],"unity_related_event":[],"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"unity_related_person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_person?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_sdg","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_sdg?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_research_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_research_theme?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_strategic_priority","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_strategic_priority?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_enabler","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_enabler?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_general_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_general_category?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_stem_unit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_stem_unit?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_project?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_archived_project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_archived_project?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"unity_related_event","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.stem.open.ac.uk\/astrobiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unity_related_event?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}