BIOSPHERIC-MEDICINE AS VIEWED FROM THE 2-YEAR FIRST CLOSURE OF BIOSPHERE-2

Biosphere 2 is a 3.15-acre, 7-million ft.(3) enclosed ecological space near Tucson, AZ. It contains five wilderness and two domestic biomes (rain forest, savanna, desert, ocean, marsh; agricultural station, liv ing quarters), an original introduction of 3,800 species (similar to 2 0% extinctions have occurred), and a large basement ''technosphere.'' Sealed inside Biosphere 2 in September 1991, four women and four men, including two of the authors, maintained themselves and the various sy stems for 2 yr, the longest sustained ''isolated confined environment' ' period on record. MMPI psychological profile scores for Biosphere 2 crewmembers correlated closely with those reported for astronauts and shuttle applicants. Major medical problems encountered during the 2 yr included adaptation to a low-calorie (1800-2200 kcal . d(-1) per pers on) but otherwise nutritionally adequate diet, with substantial weight loss (18% for men, 10% for women), and a declining oxygen atmosphere (down to 14.2%). Life in a miniworld such as Biosphere 2 may differ su bstantially from life in a space station or temporary planetary base. These differences include multiple, shifting, sometimes opposing post- launch objectives; complete self-sustenance with recycling of virtuall y all materials within a highly complex biologic system; retooling of some areas of practical medicine; an attention to ''culture'' as a soc ial dynamic and how that may influence crew and leadership selection i n a societal rather than a quasi-military community. Assuming that lon g-term planetary colonies must be largely self-sustaining (due to cost s of supply over great distances), they must of necessity approach the condition of biospheres. Subject to chaos dynamic (nonlinear dynamic) perturbations, the behavior of complex biospheres will be inherently non-predictable - as opposed to the linear dynamic situation of most s pace missions - and will require of the inhabitants, including the med ical team, a wide range of coping abilities. Under the circumstances, and while strong similarities exist, important differences may serve t o distinguish ''biospheric medicine'' from ''space medicine.''