Imperial College London
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ProfessorMarkSephton

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Professor of Organic Geochemistry
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 6542m.a.sephton Website

 
 
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Location

 

2.34Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Kminek:2022:10.1089/ast.2022.0017,
author = {Kminek, G and Benardini, JN and Brenker, FE and Brooks, T and Burton, AS and Dhaniyala, S and Dworkin, JP and Fortman, JL and Glamoclija, M and Grady, MM and Graham, HV and Haruyama, J and Kieft, TL and Koopmans, M and McCubbin, FM and Meyer, MA and Mustin, C and Onstott, TC and Pearce, N and Pratt, LM and Sephton, MA and Siljeström, S and Sugahara, H and Suzuki, S and Suzuki, Y and van, Zuilen M and Viso, M},
doi = {10.1089/ast.2022.0017},
journal = {Astrobiology},
pages = {S186--S216},
title = {COSPAR Sample Safety Assessment Framework (SSAF).},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0017},
volume = {22},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Sample Safety Assessment Framework (SSAF) has been developed by a COSPAR appointed Working Group. The objective of the sample safety assessment would be to evaluate whether samples returned from Mars could be harmful for Earth's systems (e.g., environment, biosphere, geochemical cycles). During the Working Group's deliberations, it became clear that a comprehensive assessment to predict the effects of introducing life in new environments or ecologies is difficult and practically impossible, even for terrestrial life and certainly more so for unknown extraterrestrial life. To manage expectations, the scope of the SSAF was adjusted to evaluate only whether the presence of martian life can be excluded in samples returned from Mars. If the presence of martian life cannot be excluded, a Hold & Critical Review must be established to evaluate the risk management measures and decide on the next steps. The SSAF starts from a positive hypothesis (there is martian life in the samples), which is complementary to the null-hypothesis (there is no martian life in the samples) typically used for science. Testing the positive hypothesis includes four elements: (1) Bayesian statistics, (2) subsampling strategy, (3) test sequence, and (4) decision criteria. The test sequence capability covers self-replicating and non-self-replicating biology and biologically active molecules. Most of the investigations associated with the SSAF would need to be carried out within biological containment. The SSAF is described in sufficient detail to support planning activities for a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and for preparing science announcements, while at the same time acknowledging that further work is required before a detailed Sample Safety Assessment Protocol (SSAP) can be developed. The three major open issues to be addressed to optimize and implement the SSAF are (1) setting a value for the level of assurance to effectively exclude the presence
AU  - Kminek,G
AU  - Benardini,JN
AU  - Brenker,FE
AU  - Brooks,T
AU  - Burton,AS
AU  - Dhaniyala,S
AU  - Dworkin,JP
AU  - Fortman,JL
AU  - Glamoclija,M
AU  - Grady,MM
AU  - Graham,HV
AU  - Haruyama,J
AU  - Kieft,TL
AU  - Koopmans,M
AU  - McCubbin,FM
AU  - Meyer,MA
AU  - Mustin,C
AU  - Onstott,TC
AU  - Pearce,N
AU  - Pratt,LM
AU  - Sephton,MA
AU  - Siljeström,S
AU  - Sugahara,H
AU  - Suzuki,S
AU  - Suzuki,Y
AU  - van,Zuilen M
AU  - Viso,M
DO  - 10.1089/ast.2022.0017
EP  - 216
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 1531-1074
SP  - 186
TI  - COSPAR Sample Safety Assessment Framework (SSAF).
T2  - Astrobiology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0017
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35653292
UR  - https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2022.0017
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/103446
VL  - 22
ER  -
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