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NASA plans to send small devices containing human cells in a 3D matrix – called tissue chips or organs on chips – to the International Space Station (ISS) to test their response to stress, drugs and genetic modifications .
Made of soft plastic, fabric chips have ports and channels to provide nutrients and oxygen to the cells that make up them.
The "Tissue Chips in Space" initiative aims to better understand the role of microgravity on human health and disease and, according to NASA, "space flights are at the root of many important changes in the human body, "said Liz Warren, program officer at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) at
" We expect that the tissue chips in Space behaves like the body of an astronaut and undergo the same kind of quick change, "Warren said.
The US Space Agency plans the investigations in collaboration with CASIS. and the National Center for the Advancement of Translational Sciences (National Institutes for Health, NIH).
Many changes in the human body caused by microgravity resemble the onset and progression of diseases badociated with aging on Earth, such as bone and muscle loss. But space-related changes occur much more quickly.
Model of a lung-on-a-chip. Image courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard
This means that scientists may be able to use fabric chips in space to model changes that may take months or even years, on earth.
This first phase of Tissue Chips in Space includes five investigations. . A survey on the aging of the immune system is planned for the SpaceX CRS-16 flight, scheduled for this year.
The other four, scheduled for the launch of SpaceX CRS-17 or subsequent flights, include pulmonary host defense, brain barrier, musculoskeletal disease, and renal function
In addition, four Additional projects should be launched in the summer of 2020, including two on artificial heart tissue to understand cardiovascular health, one on muscle loss, the other on intestinal inflammation.
Also called micro-physiological system, a tissue chip requires three main properties, according to Lucie Low, scientific program manager at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences in the United States.
"It must be 3D, because humans are in 3D," she explained.
"He must have several types of cells, because an organ is made up of all types of tissues, and it must also have microfluidic channels, because every tissue in your body has the important role of being able to bring blood and nutrients. to eliminate litter, "she added.
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