Holiday, FL - Liquid Fungi, a leading mycology biobank and laboratory, announces its crucial role in supporting UC Riverside Team NOLUX's groundbreaking research for NASA's Deep Space Food Contest. The company's specialized Blue Oyster Liquid Culture is enabling revolutionary experiments in light-independent mushroom cultivation, potentially transforming food production for future space missions.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is an international competition where NASA offers prize purse awards to U.S. teams and recognition to international teams. Teams are invited to create novel and game-changing food technologies or systems that require minimal inputs and maximize safe, nutritious, and palatable food outputs for long-duration space missions, and which have potential to benefit people on Earth.
Scientists worldwide study food, vital for space expeditions. Laboratories prioritize groundbreaking project by Methuselah Foundation, linked to NASA's Centennial Challenges Program. To better not only Earth, but also space The innovations in food technology have far-reaching implications, especially for space exploration. The collaboration between laboratories and the Methuselah Foundation is a significant milestone in advancing these crucial research efforts.
"Our super dense Blue Oyster culture represents years of careful strain isolation and optimization," says Matthew Mazer, Chief Science Officer at Liquid Fungi. "We're proud to see our expertise contributing to the future of space exploration and sustainable food production."
The collaboration showcases Liquid Fungi's commitment to advancing scientific research, with Team NOLUX's innovative approach to chemically simulating photosynthesis showing promising results for deep space applications. This partnership demonstrates how specialized mycological expertise can contribute to solving complex space exploration challenges.
"This collaboration perfectly aligns with our mission to push the boundaries of mycological science," adds Julian Mazer, Lead Mycologist. "Supporting Team NOLUX's research opens new frontiers in understanding how mushrooms can thrive in extreme environments."
How Did the Challenge Work?
Teams from around the world are invited to participate in the Deep Space Food Challenge by developing novel and game-changing food technologies. These technologies should be capable of sustaining astronauts on extended space missions, where traditional food sources may be limited. The challenge aims to push the boundaries of food science and technology to ensure the well-being of astronauts during their missions.
Team NoLux Wins $250,000
A journey that started with an article in Food Nature led to an all academic team from UC Riverside Plant Transformation Research Center investing years of research into developing and refining a methodology for growing plants without light in space. Their hard work and commitment to the project eventually led to them to a winning spot in the NASA Deep Space Food Challenge. Read this recent article about their win.
Liquid Fungi Involvement
Liquid Fungi provided scientific consulting and large quantities of super dense blue oyster mushroom liquid culture for Team NoLux to use during testing. Liquid Fungi is an official supplier of microbiological culture and supplies for UC Riverside Plant Transformation Research Center