The Axiom Space Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station will grow stem cells to test how limited gravity influences the development of heart and brain cells.
"We want to be able to mass-produce them by the billions so that we can utilize them for a number of different applications, including discovering new drugs that may be able to improve heart function. And while we've gotten better at this over the last few years, there are still certain limitations when it comes to the production of these stem cells, and we think microgravity may be able to overcome some of these.
An iPSC is a powerful type of cell, according to Cedars-Sinai, that has been reprogrammed from an adult cell to return to a state called"pluripotency." While in this state, the cell can be turned into nearly any cell type found in the human body. This makes iPSCs important in creating models of diseases and for creating specifically tailored treatments.
"Gravity constantly pulls these pluripotent stem cells towards Earth, putting pressure on them and providing a stimulus to start turning into other cell types, but in microgravity, that effect will no longer be there," mission co-principle investigator and executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Clive Svendsen said in the statement.
A Cedars-Sinai team will arrive at Kennedy Space Center a week before launch to prepare the stem cells and load them onto a . The Ax-2 crew will then launch in the Dragon craft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no sooner than May 21, if all goes according to plain.
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