Producing human tissue in space

3月6日上午11:50。EST，国际空间站补给了使命空间x CRS-20从Canaveral（美国）起飞。船上：苏黎世大学的250个含有成年人的试管stem cells. These stem cells will develop into bone, cartilage and otherorgansduring the month-long stay in space. Professor Oliver Ullrich and Dr. Cora Thiel, the two research leaders at the UZH Space Hub, are testing their innovative concept of human tissue production in weightlessness for the benefit of transplantation medicine and precision medicine and as an alternative to animal experiments.

Weightlessness as a tool

“We are using weightlessness as a tool,” explains Cora Thiel. Physical forces such as gravity influence how stem cells differentiate and how the formation and regeneration oftissue组织。研究人员认为，由于在ISS上的重力低，新形成的细胞在没有额外的基质或其他辅助结构的情况下将自己组织成三维组织。实验将在移动迷你实验室，美国公司空间探戈的立方体模块中进行。该模块由闭合和无菌系统组成，其中干细胞可以在恒定温度下增殖和分化。

If the test project is successful, it is planned to gradually switch from a small laboratory to a larger production scale. In the future, the innovative process can be used to generate tissue transplants such as cartilage or new liver cells in space from stem cells which are harvested from individual patients in a routine procedure. According to Oliver Ullrich, an additional application is emerging in precision medicine: “Artificially produced autologous human tissue could be used to determine which combination of drugs is the most suitable for the patient in question. In addition, human tissue and organ-like structures produced in space could help to reduce the number of animal experiments.”

空中客车也相信潜力。公私合作伙伴关系结构如下：空中客车师“防御和空间”设计了运输箱内部的入口。对于它们的设计和制造，使用诸如选择性激光烧结（SLS），特殊的3D打印过程等创新过程。新利18官方入口可确保具有最大体积利用率的单元样本的安全运输。此外，空中客车还可以组织进入ISS，从ISS和ISS和提供地面支撑设备运输测试管。Ullrich和Thiel正在促进研究理念和学习设计，正在进行科学工作并提供科学员工。

Low Earth Orbit as a future production location

Contrary to widespread opinion, transportation into space no longer causes costs to skyrocket today. “In space projects, the main cost drivers are the custom-made hardware and the bureaucracy,” says Ullrich, Professor of Anatomy at UZH and director of the UZH Space Hub. He therefore deliberately relies on established medical serial products for equipment and instruments. Ullrich is convinced of the future benefits of space flight: “In a few decades, humankind will use the Low Earth Orbit as a routine place for research, development and production.”