Author: Dorian Leger Date: Jan 14th 2026

Space is a new frontier in biology for two reasons: firstly we can use the lack of gravity for experiments that outperform terrestrial settings, and secondly because we need a whole set of new technology and know-how to tackle the space environment for human life. This project will produce a shared, peer-reviewed technical baseline for MoonDAO’s future biological mission design and funding. The paper will collect and organize research, examples, and companies into a reliable review paper to help guide the whole sector. This helps MoonDAO and others understand the landscape of space bio, helps direct research, funding, and policy. The work will be coordinated by Expanse Bio, a new hub accelerating space biotech. The team of scientists leading this project have multiple experiences publishing high impact studies.

Problem#

Space biotechnology is growing quickly, but information about it is scattered across academic papers, company announcements, and agency reports. There is no single, trusted, peer-reviewed source that explains the field in a structured way, especially from a Moon- and space-infrastructure perspective. This makes it hard for MoonDAO to judge feasibility, and decide which biological projects are worth funding or building.

Solution#

We will write and submit an open-access, peer-reviewed review paper on space biotechnology. The paper will follow this outline:

1. Introduction to space biotechnology
2. Literature review
3. Use cases of space biotechnology (8 topics), including:
   • Protein crystallization for structural biology
   • Antibody crystallization for drug development
   • Organoid growth for disease modeling
   • Organs-on-chips disease and drug models
   • Life-cycle support systems
   • In-space biomanufacturing
   • Astronaut health
   • Terraforming and biomining concepts
     
     
4. For each use case, we will explain the fundamental physical or biological reason it benefits from space (e.g. microgravity, no convection, radiation environment, closed-loop constraints).
5. Real-world examples and notable projects (e.g. Keytruda, Ritonavir, lysozyme, Redwire, Axiom, etc.)
6. Open questions about which applications are most Lunar-relevant & Mars relevant
7. Ecosystem mapping (companies, agencies, infrastructure providers)
8. Market size and economic perspective

Future perspectives on space biotechnology

Deliverables:

• A published peer-reviewed review paper on space biotechnology

Benefits#

• Gives MoonDAO a guidebook for evaluating space biotech proposals.
• Increases the chances of funding high quality research
• Improves strategic decision-making for future MoonDAO investments.
• Positions MoonDAO as a sponsor of scientific publications

MoonDAO will be recognized in mainstream science publications as sponsor of the paper.

What MoonDAO gets besides the paper#

• A curated, structured database of space bio companies and projects
• A reusable ecosystem map
• A “Moon-relevance matrix” scoring each use case

This project does not directly generate revenue, but it reduces strategic and technical risk in future funding decisions. MoonDAO can benefit from the knowledge platform that will be built in subsequent steps, as a "product" output from this project. MoonDAO could get financial ROI from those subequent steps. This project is a relatively low investment to support the first project in a new space organization.

Existing traction#

Expanse Bio has begun the work already. We have several contributors selected, and sections written. We are already in contact with ResearchHub Journal for the publication. We have a community of 72 active members on Discord, and a website and existing social media traction. These tools help us gather more contributors and editors, and will enable us to promote and disseminate the research.

website: www.expansebio.xyz Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/expansebio

Why MoonDAO#

MoonDAO is uniquely positioned to support this work because it sits at the intersection of funding, governance, and space infrastructure development. Unlike traditional academic funders, MoonDAO is actively evaluating and enabling missions and technologies in the lunar and in-space domain. This review directly supports MoonDAO’s mission by:

• Providing a shared technical baseline for evaluating biological payloads, experiments, and infrastructure proposals.
• Reducing asymmetric information between proposers and token holders.
• Helping MoonDAO avoid funding technically infeasible or strategically misaligned projects.
  
  

In this sense, the review acts as governance infrastructure, not just a publication

Open access & IP terms#

The review will be published open-access under a CC-BY or similar permissive license.

All figures, datasets, and ecosystem maps will be released publicly and reusable by MoonDAO and third parties.

Risks#

Note: MoonDAO is acting as a funding source and possibly a network on which to draw some contributors, MoonDAO is not expected to be involved in the review process or quality control of this work. That responsibility falls on the Corresponding Author, Dorian Leger. MoonDAO oversight should be applied on the progression of the work in time, but not on details within the paper.

Dorian has been the C.A on 3 publications so far, and is familiar with leading research teams through the review process.

Importantly, Dorian has deep network in the space industry, including close contacts with companies in Luxembourg. The experts in these companies will help validate and revise the paper.

Objectives#

Objective #1#

Publish a high-quality, peer-reviewed, open-access review paper on space biotechnology within 150 days of proposal approval. Key Results for Objective #1:

• Complete full draft by Day 60
• Submit manuscript to ResearchHub by Day 100
• Publication Day 150
• Promote the publications across social media and with journalists

Measurable metrics#

• Reads: Our publication should aim to have over 5,000 reads in the first year, and 20,000 after 3 years.
• Citations: It should have 10 citations in the first year, and over 100 within 3 years.
• Public engagement: Its altmetric score should be in top 1 to 5% of all publications. (this means high traction on X, bluesky, Linkedin, wikipedia, etc)
• We aim to have at least 1 journalist interview within first 2 months after publication.

Member(s) responsible for OKR and their role:

• Is there a specific member or set of members that are responsible for this particular objective? If all of them are responsible for this just say “All”

Team (Table A)#

Team (Table A)#

Project Lead#

• Dorian Leger — @dx.lite Responsible for coordination, content, reporting,and treasury. Outline of publication, recruiting contributors, review of content from contributors, revision process, and publication with Journal.
  

Initial Team#

• Rakhan Aimbetov: Research — @.rpill
• Leading section on Astronaut health
  
• Shathar Alobeidat: Platform & Community Lead — @shazzzie Leading section on: Organs-on-chips disease and drug models
  
• Several roles will be added to further develop the website’s knowledge platform, and more contributors will be added to the publication

Multisig Signers#

1. Dorian Leger
2. Rakhan Aimbetov

Team Bios#

Dorian Leger#

CEO, Cx Bio SARL (Luxembourg) Email: dorian.leger@cxbio.io Education: B.Sc. Molecular Biology; B.A. Economics Profile: dx.lite Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JnaF-vgAAAAJ&hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorianleger/ Dorian Leger has experience at the intersection of space and biology. He has led several research teams and published multiple high impact papers as first and corresponding author. He has worked at the European Space Agency and ispace, and is currently CEO of Cx Bio SARL.

1. Worked at European Space Agency 2. Worked at ispace 3. Corresponding author on 3 publications in top 1% journals. Has extensive experience with peer-review process. a. Photovoltaic-driven microbial protein production can use land and sunlight more efficiently than conventional crops (PNAS) (with Max Planck Institute) b. Modeling energy requirements for oxygen production on the Moon (PNAS) (with ESA) c. Techno-economic analysis of microbial lipid production using biomethane and biomethanol (Nature Coms Sustainability) (in the press)

4. Wrote an in depth article on space bio use cases https://www.cxbio.io/spacebio 5. Is currently leading www.expansebio.xyz, which is developing a knowledge base in space biotech. Has assimilated strong team for both science and business side of the review paper.

Founder, overlake.bio (Kazakhstan) Email: r@overlake.bio Education: Ph.D. in Biotechnology Profile: .rpill Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=C6lfyWsAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raimbetov/ Rakhan Aimbetov is a biotechnologist and founder of overlake.bio, with a research background spanning microbial biotechnology and applied biological systems. He holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications. Rakhan’s work focuses on translating fundamental biological research into scalable platforms, with an emphasis on emerging, decentralized, and globally distributed research models.

PhD Candidate, University of Trieste (Italy) Email: shatharobeidatt@gmail.com Education: PhD Candidate in Nanotechnology; MSc Nanotechnology; BSc Pharmacy Profile: shazzzie Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=khPPeogAAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1&oi=ao LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shatharobeidat Shathar Alobeidat is a nanotechnology researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Trieste. Her academic background spans pharmacy and nanotechnology, with research interests at the interface of nanomaterials, biomedical applications, and advanced technological systems. She brings strong interdisciplinary expertise bridging life sciences, materials science, and applied nanotech research.

Deadline:  150 days after proposal approval.

Budget (Table C)#

Transactions (Table C)#