The gravitational pull of Earth makes the cultivation of essential proteins for disease and pathogen research more challenging. Many medical studies have developed in space.
“Medicine in Space” Is No Longer Science Fiction
In a small laboratory tucked away in a corner of a skyscraper in downtown Tel Aviv, Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Yamin is holding what he calls “a small suitcase-style factory of a James Bond spy, powered by solar energy.”
For the past four years, these small metal boxes, covered with solar panels, have repeatedly flown into orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket. They have provided insights ranging from leukemia cancer cells to the best ways to create lab-grown steak.
The ISS has been used as a base for conducting experiments free from the effects of gravity – (Photo: REUTERS).
Yossi Yamin, CEO of SpacePharma—a biotechnology company working with children’s hospitals and major pharmaceutical companies around the world—has pioneered a new industry.
Using technology developed by the Technion (the oldest university in Israel), an increasing number of biologists are able to scale down their experiments and send them to the International Space Station (ISS).
“This is no longer science fiction,” Yamin said. “Last year, we completed 7 experiments in orbit. Next month we will conduct 5 experiments in space across various fields, from skincare to longevity medicine and brain diseases.”
A Major Breakthrough
The pull of Earth’s gravity can obscure some ways that cells communicate with each other, making it more difficult to understand why they behave the way they do.
Additionally, gravity complicates keeping stem cells in their purest and most useful state for extended periods.
This also poses significant challenges for scientists researching the complex crystal structures of crucial proteins, such as those related to cancer, viruses, genetic disorders, and heart disease.
Developing these fragile crystals from scratch is vital for analyzing how a tumor or virus develops. However, when they grow on Earth, gravity pulls them down, obscuring their true appearance.
Professor Thais Russomano, a space medicine expert and CEO of Thinktank InnovaSpace, stated: “Crystals grow larger in space and have fewer defects.”
For the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company MicroQuin, a series of experiments conducted on the ISS over the past four years has helped launch a new drug line. This includes treatments for ovarian and breast cancer, as well as traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and even influenza—based on a family of proteins known as TMBIM.
Scientists have long sought to target TMBIM production with drugs because they help regulate the internal environment of cells. While gravity makes TMBIM notoriously difficult to crystallize on Earth, MicroQuin has been able to achieve this in space.
A New Era of Medicine?The field of space medicine was propelled by one of NASA’s worst disasters. In February 2003, the Columbia space shuttle exploded while re-entering the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all 7 astronauts on board. Three months later, among the shuttle debris was a series of vials containing crystals that somehow remained intact. They were the result of an experiment that the Columbia astronauts conducted while working on the ISS. These vials provided biologists with crucial information about the structure of a protein called interferon alpha-2b, the active ingredient in Intron A, which at the time was a treatment for malignant tumors and hepatitis C. In the years to come, space may also transform another medical field struggling to meet expectations: stem cells. Stem cells are believed to usher in a new era of regenerative medicine, helping to restore damaged organs and bring new hope to those suffering from heart failure or liver failure. |
