Bioprinting in Space Could Finally Allow the Synthesis of Complex Tissues
NASA astronaut Chris Williams shows off the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox, as we works with a bioprinter to produce cartilage implants.Credit: NASA/Chris Williams
Recently, the medical technology company Auxilium Biotechnologies announced that it conducted a test aboard NASA's SpaceX CRS-34 mission, attempting all-new forms of bioprinting in space. It successfully printed samples of kidney, liver, and cartilage cells, along with several neural implants, demonstrating the real potential of microgravity in orbit to advance medicine.
Bioprinting full tissues has long been a holy grail for medical science, and while just about any individual cell type is easy enough to grow, producing finished tissues from those cells has always proved difficult due to the specific three-dimensional structure that defines them. Pair that with the fact that they are often made up of multiple cell types laced together in complex ways, and you have a very difficult problem to solve.
So,...
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