1
Issue July/August 2013
a Zero Gravity Solutions Publication
N e w s l e t t e r
Harvey Kaye Chairman Richard Godwin CEO & President
John Wayne Kennedy Chief Science Officer & Founder
Patrick Kennedy
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Dr. Wagner Vendrame
Research & Development, Lead Scientist, University of Flori-da, Homestead, FL
Neal R. Pellis, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Space Life Sciences at Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
Neil Talbot, Ph.D.
Fauna, Research & Development, USDA
Erik Forsberg, Ph.D.
Human Stem Cell Lead, WiCell
Todd Meyerrose, Ph.D.
Human Regenerative Medicine, based at NASA Ames Research Center
Andrew Koopman
Manager, New Venture Develop-ment of NYU, Office of Industrial Liaison
Robert Corkery, Ph.D.
Scientist, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
I want to thank everyone;; our shareholders, staff,
advisors and consultants, all of whom have
played an integral role in the accomplishments
we’ve made from our inception, until right now.
Over these past months we have finalized the
merger that created our public entity, (ZGSI.PK),
and completed the financial audit necessary to
commence trading. We have put in place a
highly qualified, deeply experienced
management team and assembled a top-notch
Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of some of
the most respected, forward-thinking scientists
related to plant, animal and non-embryonic
human stem cell work.
Several drivers relating to the International
Space Station (ISS) create a unique and timely
opportunity for our Company to be the first
zero-gravity biotech company developing
intellectual property translating to commercial
licensing to third parties, new varieties of
patentable plant, animal and human stem cells
with unique and beneficial characteristics only
achievable in long-term microgravity.
Among these drivers are national and
international agencies that are most eager to
demonstrate the commercial value of the billions
of dollars spent to build the ISS, the ISS being
named a “national lab” and the threat to the world
food crops from climate change, the depletion of
minerals and nutrients in soil throughout the world
and new, aggressive and resistant plant diseases.
The most important driver;; however, is the
commercialization of access to the ISS, which
uniquely positions ZGSI to utilize our six years of
NASA-enabled flight experiments to the ISS and
our years with NASA and space industry
involvement to accomplish our corporate goals.
We look forward to the coming months as we
execute our flight schedule to bring a variety of
projects to the ISS commencing early in 2014 and
continue to implement our strategy to create and
patent stem cells in microgravity, not just for
commercial purposes, but for the benefit of
humanity.
Richard Godwin, CEO & President
Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc.
2
Ask any one in the world what their
favorite fruit is and chances are
the answer will be the banana.
And deservedly so, it’s easy to peel,
easy to eat and travels well. Interestingly,
although there are dozens of available
varieties of most other fruits, when it
comes to bananas only one variety
accounts for 99% of the banana export
market, the Cavendish… and it is
under serious threat of extinction.
black sigatoka, is the soil-borne fungus
that is threatening to wipe out the world’s
banana crops. It is considered one of the
most destructive and devastating crop
diseases and the one that causes the
greatest economic impact in banana and
plantain crops. It is extremely difficult to
eradicate as the pathogen has developed
resistance to the fungicides, which are
typically used to prevent the disease. A
future without bananas is hard to
imagine, but will very possibly become a
reality in our lifetime without a
groundbreaking solution.
Our scientists at ZGSI along with our
academic and corporate partners are
pioneering new solutions, utilizing space-
flight acquired non-GMO stem cells as
well as ground-based solutions using the
Company’s chemistry based technolo-
gies to treat the disease and/or produce
a variety that is resistant to the black
sigatoka fungus that is threatening to
wipe them out.
Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc.
has made its official debut to
the commercial space industry
and the reception could not
have been more positive. We
attended and presented at
several prominent industry
trade conferences in May and
June including SpaceTech
and the National Space
Society’s (NSS) International
Space Development
Conference (ISDC) in
California. Cliff McMurray, the
ISDC 2013 Business Track
Chairman, stated in a
follow-up email to our CEO,
Richard Godwin, “I’d like to
extend our thanks for the
presentation you gave on the
business track. Your session
was one of the most exciting
on the track, as I overheard
more than one attendee say.”
Additionally, the official NSS
press release on the event
stated, “A number of
revolutionary developments
were announced at the
conference, including startling
recent advances in growing
stem cells in space and how
they can be used.”
The Huffington Post
featured an overview of our
SpaceTech
presentation along
with SpaceX in a
blog on their
website.
Overseas, we
presented at the
Harwell Oxford Venture
Fest 2013, where we were
nominated as one of their
“Future 50”, Oxfords’
brightest business stars
of the future and billed as
“the ones to watch.”
Additionally, we have
submitted responses to
governmental Requests For
Information (RFI’s) and have
been represented at various
SBIR conferences and other
venues aimed at securing
non-dilutive funding and
initial project partners. We
are anticipating continued
positive feedback and
solidifying our strategic
relationships at the next
upcoming high profile
industry trade shows.
These include
the 2nd
Annual ISS
Research &
Development
Conference in
Denver on
July 16th and the
NewSpace 2013 show in
San Jose, CA on July 25,
2013.
“Your session
was one of the
most exciting
on the track.”
The momentum continues
to build as our exposure
widens within the
industries of space,
finance, biotechnology,
science and agriculture as
well as among
governmental entities.
3
TECH TALK The Science Behind Our Technology
Although the science behind our IP for
creating and replicating stem cells in
space is complex, the scientific basis
underlying the technology can be
easily understood.
Since food crops and renewable
energy are among our initial projects,
this discussion will focus on plant stem
cells and how growing stem cells in
space is vastly different from growing
them on Earth.
In 4 billion years of life on Earth,
almost everything about the environ-
ment has changed;; however, there has
always been ONE CONSTANT: All
life on Earth has formed within the
confines of 1G. To overcome gravity,
about 50% of the energy expended by
terrestrial-bound plants is dedicated to
structural support. By removing gravity
from the equation, plant cells in a
weightless environment react to this
relatively benign environmental change
by going into survival mode. The
excess of energy causes differential
gene expression, wherein normally
dormant genes within the cell are able
to express themselves. With these
dormant genes now expressing, the
plant is able to adapt quickly to a
changing environment and specific
stressors, such as disease or drought.
Directed SelectionTM is the process of
exposing the stem cell to a particular
stressor so that it may acquire unique
and beneficial functionalities.
We are changing the genome without
changing the DNA. These changes in
the genome of the plant are done
without the need for additive or
subtractive genomic engineering, thus
the plant is still natural only with
previously dormant genes now
expressed and is therefor considered
non-GMO.
A Message from the Chairman
Getting to know… JULIE BLOCH, Vice President, Communications
Julie has been with Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc. from its inception. She has been instrumental in helping to shape the company’s development and build the internal infrastructure necessary for a publicly traded company. As Vice President of Communications, Julie is spearheading the strategy for providing the Company’s voice, driving its image and creating our overall presence to the world in this emerging industry of zero gravity biotechnology. Julie has a been a resident of Boca Raton, Florida for over 20 years since graduating the University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelors of Science degree in Journalism. She has been married for eight years has two daughters, ages 3 and 5. For any questions regarding our company communications, please contact Julie via phone (561) 416-0400 or email at [email protected].
It is a rare opportunity to be
associated not only with the
creation of a new company
based upon scientific
breakthroughs developed
over the last six years of
flying biological stem cell
projects to the International
Space Station (ISS), but
also to potentially create a
new industry, zero gravity
based biotechnology. First,
there was the
pharmaceutical industry,
then biotechnology and
now zero-gravity based
biotechnology.
Our company has a highly
focused business plan
utilizing our NASA Space
Act Agreement and the
expertise of our highly
experienced team of space
scientists, biologists and
stem cell pioneers as well
as sophisticated business
and operational executives
who understand how to
create shareholder value.
ZGSI’s platform technology
provides the means and
ability to commercialize
and monetize the
unprecedented opportunity
of utilizing the ISS and its
extended zero/microgravity
environment to develop
stem cells with unique
characteristics. We have
positioned our company
to implement the vision of the
pioneers who recognized the
potential of utilizing the ISS to
develop scientific break-
throughs in plant, animal and
non-embryonic human stem
cells that can be patented
and licensed for commercial
use and revenue generation.
We look to the future with
excitement and enthusiasm
for what we can accomplish
and the advances that our
technology can achieve.
Harvey Kaye, Chairman
Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc.
4
ZGSI IN THE NEWS….
The Space Review, July 15, 2013 Stimulating Greater Use of the ISS
By: Jeff Foust
Space.com
Profits from Orbit: Breeding Stem Cells in Space, Interview with CEO Richard Godwin
The Huffington Post, June 5, 2013
End of Space Shuttle Saves World By: Anna-Leahy & Douglas Dechow
For the latest press releases, please see our website at: www.zerogravity.com
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
FOR 2013:
American Astronautical Society Annual ISS R&D Conference
July 16-July 18, 2013, Denver, CO
The Space Show, July 22, 2013 Live internet radio interview with ZGSI CEO Richard Godwin, Archived
New Space 2013 July 25-July 27, 2013, San Jose, CA
American Society for Gravitational & Space Research
November 3-November 8, 2013, Orlando, FL
Scan below
to “Like Us”
Be sure to subscribe
to our new ZEROGSI channel on:
Issue 01 July/August 2013