118 



SPACE BIOLOGY 



Wallace O. Fenn 



The Challenge of Space Biology 



Reprinted with the permission of the author 

 and publisher from the A.I.B.S. Bulletin 8(2) : 

 15, 1958. 



In a sense it is regrettable that the 

 American Institute of Biological Sci- 

 ences had to raise its voice recently in 

 protest against the ruling of the Civil 

 Service Commission which specifically 

 excluded biological scientists from par- 

 ticipation in a general salary increase 

 provided for physicists and engineers. 

 In general AIBS aims to campaign not 

 for special favors for biologists but for 

 better opportunities for biology to serve 

 the present needs of man. The new 

 space era will oflFer many such oppor- 

 tunities, some of whicli will be men- 

 tioned here; but every biologist knows 

 that the real challenge to biologv is to 

 gain a better understanding of the na- 

 ture of the life process itself. Biology 

 is basic to both medicine and agricul- 

 ture, and progress in both sciences is 

 dependent upon advances in basic 

 biological research. Support of this sim- 

 ple but little appreciated thesis is al- 

 ways the most vital objective of AIBS 

 and its chief excuse for existence. 



Meanwhile, however, biology must be 

 ready to respond to more immediate 

 and practical demands including those 

 connected with the satellite program. 



The immediate problem for biolo- 

 gists of course is to think of ways in 

 which satellites in orbit could be used 

 significantly for biological research. 

 One such experiment has already been 

 suggested by an AIBS-ONR commit- 

 tee. This would involve the measure- 

 ment of the COo output of a yeast cul- 

 ture which could be telemetered in 

 terms of the electrical conductivitv of 

 a solution of barium hvdrate in which 

 the CO2 would be trapped. Such an 

 experiment would tell us at least as 

 much as the Russians can learn from 

 their little dog. Even this simple ex- 

 periment with \east is no mean achieve- 

 ment for a weightless environment. 



Both the yeast and the dog experi- 

 ments have their limitations however. 

 In both cases life and sun'ival possibil- 

 ities should be predictable within cer- 



