NASA astronaut Dr. Kathleen "Kate' Rubins is the first person to sequence DNA in space and the device she used might one day help save the lives of astronauts on long space voyages.

Dr. Rubins, 37, is a microbiologist who is currently a flight engineer for Expedition 48/49 on the International Space Station (ISS). She became the 60th woman in space when she launched on Soyuz MS-01 last July.

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Dr. Rubins received a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from the University of California San Diego and a Ph.D. degree in cancer biology from Stanford University Medical School Biochemistry Department and Microbiology and Immunology Department.

NASA announced Dr. Rubins achieved this feat last week using a handheld biomolecules sequencer called MinION developed in the United Kingdom by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The handheld sequencer allows astronauts to identify molds or bacteria aboard spacecraft and might even catalog life on other worlds.

The device can also help astronauts diagnose illness in space and allow them to identify disease-causing microbes on the ISS. DNA sequencing determines the order of the four chemical building blocks that make up the genetic information from a given living organism.

The MinION sequencer is smaller than a smartphone and uses nanopores (or very small holes) to analyze genomic data in real time. The device passes an ionic current through the nanopores, measuring changes in the current as organic molecules pass by. These changes can be used to identify each molecule.

"The test of the Biomolecule Sequencer on ISS is an important first step to learning how to sequence macromolecules like DNA in space," said Jason Dworkin, a biochemist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"This is important to search for evidence of life elsewhere in the solar system -- Mars, Europa, Enceladus -- and be able to distinguish it from any biological contamination we brought with us from Earth."

Spores, molds, and fungi can survive in the low gravity in a spacecraft. With DNA sequencing, astronauts can identify these microbes and make informed in-flight decisions.

Before NASA's successful DNA sequencing trial, however, there was no way to sequence DNA aboard the ISS or any other crewed spacecraft. All samples had to be sent back to Earth for testing.

TagsNASA, Dr. Kathleen "Kate' Rubins, DNA, handheld biomolecules sequencer, MinION, DNA Sequencing