The team behind the Biomolecule Sequencer project today issued a pre print describing their project to sequence DNA on the International Space Station.  The authors note that “Simulated runs of in-flight nanopore data using an automated bioinformatic pipeline demonstrated the feasibility of real-time sequencing analysis and metagenomic identification of microbes in space. Additionally, cloud and laptop based-assembly illustrated the plausibility of automated, de novo genomic assembly from nanopore data on the ISS. Applications of sequencing for space exploration include infectious disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring, evaluating biological responses to spaceflight, and even potentially the detection of extraterrestrial life on other planetary bodies.”

Read the paper here.