NASA selected 15 experiments to be funded through its most recent research announcement for opportunities in space biology research. Ten of these experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station in the near future. Five others will be ground-based studies.

NASA's Space Biology Program will fund the proposals to investigate how cells, plants and animals respond to microgravity. Space biology scientists will examine and discover underlying mechanisms of adaptation to changes resulting from the spaceflight environment.

This research will help determine how cells and organisms regulate and sustain growth, metabolism, reproduction and development. These studies could provide a foundation upon which other NASA researchers and engineers can build approaches and countermeasures to the problems confronting human exploration of space. It also could lead to new biological tools or applications on Earth.

The selected proposals are from 12 institutions in 10 states and will receive a total of about $4 million during a one- to three-year period. Scientific and technical experts from academia and government reviewed the proposals.