NASA astronaut Mike Fincke congratulated Julia Gross '25 and Isabelle Chuang '25, the winners of the 2024 Genes in Space competition, with a special message from the International Space Station, where he conducted their groundbreaking experiment.

Their investigation tested whether cell-free systems can synthesize bacteriophage components in microgravity and whether those phages can lyse susceptible bacteria—a step toward phage therapy to treat infections in space.

This message was delivered in October 2025, following the successful completion of Julia and Isabelle’s experiment aboard the ISS. Genes in Space is a STEM competition co-founded by miniPCR bio and Boeing that invites students to design DNA experiments for space.

From Genes in Space.