Biosphere Crew Member Returns After Surgery

A crew member of the Biosphere II environmental laboratory who severed her fingertip returned to the sealed prototype space colony Friday after surgery.

Jayne Poynter, the lab’s farm manager, was taken to University Medical Center, where her finger was surgically closed after a graft to keep the top half inch of the finger failed.

“I feel fine. I’m looking forward to going back into the Biosphere,” Poynter said after the surgery.

Dr. J. David Gibeault said Friday’s procedure was “relatively routine” and that Poynter’s finger should be back in working order in about a month.

The eight-member crew was sealed into Biosphere II two weeks ago for a planned two-year stay. The project is located in the desert 30 miles northeast of Tucson.

Poynter, 29, of Surrey, England, lost the fingertip when it was caught in a rice-threshing machine Wednesday. Physician-crew member Dr. Ray Walford sewed the fingertip back on, but decided the graft wasn’t taking and suggested surgery by a specialist, said Kathy Dyhr, a spokeswoman.

The accident took off the tip of the middle finger on Poynter’s left hand, down partway through the nail. Some bone was cut off, making reattachment of the fingertip without special techniques difficult, Walford said.

Poynter’s temporary removal would not affect the validity of the experiment to test humans’ ability to create a self-sustaining environment in the glass-encased miniworld, Dyhr said.