Scientists will send stem cells to space in early May to analyze the effect of weak gravity or “microgravity” in space on stem cells.
The induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a sort of stem cell that may turn into the three primary groups of cells that make up a human body, will likely be cultivated in space by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by astronauts flying on Axiom Space’s private Ax-2 mission. The mission is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no sooner than 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 GMT) on May 21 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Growing these cells and allowing them to distinguish in space should allow researchers to find out if microgravity has any impact on the best way iPSCs turn into other cell types like brain and heart cells.
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“A serious challenge for using iPSCs for therapies in humans is making enough of them at very top quality,” research co-leader and Cedars-Sinai cell biologist Arun Sharma, said in a statement. (opens in recent tab) “We would like to give you the chance to mass-produce them by the billions in order that we are able to utilize them for a lot of different applications, including discovering recent drugs which will give you the chance to enhance heart function. And while we have gotten higher at this over the previous couple of years, there are still certain limitations in relation to the production of those stem cells, and we predict microgravity may give you the chance to beat a few of these.”
An iPSC is a strong sort of cell, based on Cedars-Sinai, that has been reprogrammed from an adult cell to return to a state called “pluripotency.” While on this state, the cell could be was nearly any cell type present in the human body. This makes iPSCs necessary in creating models of diseases and for creating specifically tailored treatments.
Producing iPSCs on Earth is difficult, nevertheless, partially due to the gravitational effects of the planet which may restrict the expansion and growth of those cells. In low-gravity environments, like that of the ISS which orbits Earth at an altitude of around 253 miles (408 miles), this barrier may very well be removed.
“Gravity consistently pulls these pluripotent stem cells towards Earth, putting pressure on them and providing a stimulus to begin turning into other cell types, but in microgravity, that effect will now not be there,” mission co-principle investigator and executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Clive Svendsen said within the statement. By removing gravity from the equation, researchers will give you the chance test whether or not cells grow faster in space, present fewer genetic mutations and remain of their versatile pluripotent state. “That’s the goal of this recent mission, and we’re all very excited to see what happens up there,” Svendsen said.
A Cedars-Sinai team will arrive at Kennedy Space Center per week before launch to arrange the stem cells and cargo them onto a Dragon spacecraft. The Ax-2 crew will then launch within the Dragon craft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no before May 21, if all goes based on plain.
The mission will last just per week but sets the stage for future missions of longer duration over the approaching months that can further test the flexibility of stem cells to divide and take up DNA during spaceflight.
Axiom Space is a non-public astronaut training and mission management provider based in Houston, Texas, home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The corporate goals to “provide universal access to low Earth orbit in order that innovators, governments and individuals can do the identical,” the company’s website reads (opens in recent tab).
Ax-2 will likely be the second mission that Axiom Space has organized and operated aboard the ISS. The primary, Ax-1, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 in April 2022 and sent 4 private astronauts to the orbital lab for over two weeks. It was the primary all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
Axiom can be working on several space station modules of their very own that can launch to the ISS within the years to come back. These will eventually detach from the soon-to-be-defunct International Space Station to develop into their very own private space research facility in low Earth orbit.
