Implementation of in-field life detection and characterisation techniques in icy environments

Abstract

An emerging trend towards non-laboratory based biological and microbiological marker analysis is occurring in multiple sectors of science and industry. In the medical sector, these trends have demonstrated that conducting sample analyses away from centralised laboratories not only makes analyses quicker and more convenient (e.g. a home pregnancy test), but can offer services that are otherwise impractical (e.g. mobile laboratories to diagnose disease in the developing world). In the environmental sector, similar benefits, plus the ability to develop and test hypotheses, protocols and sampling strategies within a field campaign, are possible with in-field analyses. Icy environments in particular would benefit from in situ or in-field life detection as they are typically remote, and hence impart high logistical costs for repeated field campaigns and associated sample return with the implication that the efficiency of scientific return is poor. Unfortunately, most equipment and protocols developed for microbiological analyses in other sectors of science and industry are unsuitable for direct application to in-field use in icy environments because of poor compatibility with icy environment sample matrices and frequently inappropriate microbiological targets. Hence within this work, two hypotheses were tested: that (i) microbiological detection infield in icy environments is possible and through this (ii) unique and more efficient scientific studies can be conducted. Cont/d.