On 28 June 2025, at 11:25 CEST, the cultivation of modified yeast as part of the Yeast TardigradeGene experiment began on board the International Space Station. The project is implemented by a consortium of three universities: the University of Szczecin as the coordinator, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the University of Silesia in Katowice.
The experiment involves testing yeast enriched with genes from tardigrades – microscopic organisms known for their extreme resilience. The aim is to assess their suitability as biofactories, e.g. for producing food or fuel for future missions to the Moon and Mars.The experiment is part of the Axiom 4 (Ax-4) mission organized by the European Space Agency (ESA). The payload with the yeast culture was placed in the Columbus module by ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland).
Source: POLSA
The project is coordinated by prof. dr hab. Ewa Szuszkiewicz from the Institute of Physics of the University of Szczecin. The interdisciplinary team consists of: dr hab. Franco Ferrari (University of Szczecin), dr hab. Nina Antos-Krzemińska, dr hab. Łukasz Kaczmarek, dr Andonis Karachitos and prof. dr hab. Hanna Kmita (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań) and dr hab. Izabela Poprawa (University of Silesia in Katowice).
