Monte-Carlo Simulation of a biochip irradiation with the GEANT4 toolkit
Résumé
Detecting life in the Solar System is one of the great challenges of new upcoming space missions. One way to detect organic matter on extra-terrestrial objects could be the use of biochips. A biochip is composed of biological sensitive systems called ligands (like antibodies and aptamers in our case) fixed on a slide, which allow the detection of specific organic molecules, called biomarkers. In the case of measurements on site (from sample extracted from the planetary soil) the main concern is to ensure the survival of the biochip during the full mission. Space radiation seems to be a critical parameter, requiring a detailed investigation of the biochip behaviour under such conditions. In particular, the survival ability of the ligands must be studied, as well as slide's alterations. Shielding of the biochip is another important issue that needs to be addressed. In this abstract, we present first attempts to simulate the radiation environment effects on a simple biochip sent to the Mars planet, considering several slide materials and shielding configurations. The simulations are based on the state-of-the-art Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit using the Geant4 Radiation Analysis for Space tool developed by the European Space Agency for space environment effects analysis. These simulations will help in the determination of the most relevant experimental conditions before testing the biochip behaviour using dedicated irradiation beam facilities.