Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication
Developing cancer treatments in space
Several people ask me about the usefulness of space research. I have answered (1) some of their questions earlier. Now again I am going to show a few more.
NASA has awarded the university of Colorado Boulder's BioServe Space Technologies a three-year grant to study the use of microgravity to grow hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The cells, which will come from umbilical cord blood or bone marrow, show potential to treat serious medical conditions including blood cancers that require bone marrow transplants, fatal blood disorders, severe immune diseases, and certain autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The field of bio-regenerative medicine is rapidly expanding, and there is enormous potential to treat a broad set of diseases and organ failure. Microgravity offers us the opportunity to try to mimic the human body in a way you can’t in a cell culture dish or bioreactor here on Earth. Successful expansion could grow the cord blood resource pool as well as transplant potential.
The possibility of improving precursor HSC expansion of gene-edited cells could be the gateway to expanding bioregenerative medicine options for multiple medical conditions and will help expand access to the growing interest of providing personalized medicine in the form of HSC treatments.
The work will include development of a bioreactor that can grow stem cells in space more effectively and efficiently than can be done in ground labs. Once grown, the cells would be cryogenically frozen and brought back to Earth as medical treatments. It is cutting-edge research with major possibilities.
There isn't anything simple about this, doing it in space, but expanding these cells on the ground they are subject to a lot of shear stresses in stir tanks that can cause damage or induce them to differentiate and turn into something that’s not useful, according to researchers. In microgravity, scientists can grow them in an environment that’s similar to your body, where they can stay suspended and essentially mimic the environment in your bone marrow.
While conducting research in space is expensive, companies like SpaceX have made major advancements in cutting costs for rocket launches, and NASA thinks there is additional potential for cost reductions, making biomedical research more financially viable.
This has to be cost competitive with ground treatment or demonstrate a significant medical advantage.
If the team is successful, the technology will enable cell therapy transplantation, especially in children and younger adults, where long-term bone marrow cell repopulation is critical to lifetime health.
There are a lot of questions to answer, but that’s why scientists do research. In addition, much of the technology they develop for this could also apply terrestrially. We could improve bioreactors more broadly to expand stem cell research and medical treatments in space and here on Earth.
https://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/2022/04/20/developing-cancer-tre...
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/b4h-3rd/hh...treatments
Footnotes:
1. In defence of Mangalyaan: Why even developing countries like India ...
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on
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Have we discovered anything in space that we now use in everyday life?
From the early days of human civilisation, astronomy has had an impact on our culture and technology.
A pure science like astronomy rarely contributes directly to our everyday lives – although, of course, it adds to our scientific, philosophical and cultural experience of the cosmos. The processes and phenomena discovered in space are generally of such a scale (in size, time or energy, for example) that they have little relation to the human experience. However, a notable exception is the research on nuclear processes occurring in stars which indirectly led to the development of nuclear power (and weapons).
Beyond that, we could list technologies prevalent in everyday life that were originally developed for astronomy (like digital cameras and MRI scanners) or discoveries actually made in space (on the ISS, for example) which have led to important innovations (including pharmaceuticals, or treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s). Of course, every time you check the time you are using the astronomical discoveries of humankind.
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/have-we-discovered-anything-in...
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How space is connecting cars
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-space-cars.html?utm_source=nwle...
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Space research in anti-cancer fight
Experiments in the weightless environment of space have led to "crazy progress" in the fight against cancer, NASA officials say.
Not only do cells in space age more rapidly, speeding up research, their structures are also described as "purer."
They all don't clump together (as they do) on Earth because of gravity. They are suspended in space enabling better analysis of their molecular structures.
Research conducted in space can help make cancer drugs more effective.
Pharmaceutical giant Merck has conducted research on the ISS with Keytruda, an anti-cancer drug that patients now receive intravenously.
Its key ingredient is difficult to transform into a liquid. One solution is crystallization, a process often used in drug manufacturing.
In 2017, Merck conducted experiments to see if the crystals would form more rapidly in space than on Earth.
Two pictures taken demonstrate the difference. The first showed a blurry, transparent spot. But on the second, a large number of clear gray spots had emerged.
That photo showed that smaller, more uniform crystals were forming in space—and "forming better".
Thanks to such research, researchers will be able to make a drug that can be administered by injection in a doctor's office instead of through long and painful chemotherapy treatments.
Merck identified techniques that can help it imitate the effects of these crystals on Earth as it works to develop a drug that can be stored at room temperature.
Still, it can take years between research in space and the wide availability of a drug developed there.
Cancer research in space began more than 40 years ago but has become "revolutionary" in recent years.
Biden launched a "Cancer Moonshot" initiative in 2016, when he was then vice president, echoing a speech by John F. Kennedy some 60 years earlier outlining the bold goal of sending an American to the moon.
The goal of the "Moonshot" is to halve the death rate from cancer over the next quarter century, saving four million lives, according to the White House.
Political realities may hinder that ambitious goal, though. Congress has earmarked just over $25 billion to NASA for 2024, two percent less than the previous year and well below what the White House had sought.
"The ability of space to capture the imagination is huge. And space cancer research has a firm goal: "It can save lives." and should be pursued, according to the scientific community.
Source: AFP
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