We have liftoff! Genes in Space-12 experiment launches to space

The Genes in Space-12 experiment has made its way to the ISS! Early in the morning on Sun, August 24, 2025, the project designed by 2024 contest winners Julia Gross and Isabelle Chuang was launched into space aboard SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission 33.

The Genes in Space-12 experiment will investigate the potential of using phage therapy in space as an alternative to treating infections with antibiotics. “Being able to mentor these bright students and help develop their experiments for space has been incredibly rewarding - the future of science is in good hands!” says Dr. Ally Huang, the Genes in Space Science Lead at miniPCR bio. “And being able to actually attend the launch and see our samples head off into space is such an exciting way to tie up all of our work.”

Before the launch, they were joined by 2023 contest winner Isabel Jiang and the rest of the Genes in Space team to tour Boeing’s Commercial Crew & Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) to see the Starliner spacecraft and the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center to see the Space Launch System (SLS) for the Artemis 2 mission.

Julia and Isabelle’s experiment will be carried out by astronauts aboard the ISS over the coming months. Until then, check out scenes from the launch trip below!