The secret to producing large batches of stem stem cells in a more efficient manner can be under the conditions of severity space close to zero. The scientists of Cedars-Sinai have found that microgravity has the potential to contribute to the progress they save life on earth by facilitating rapid mass production of stem cells.
A new document, led by Cedars Sinai and published in peer-reviewed magazine, stem cell reports, highlights the key opportunities discussed during the biomanufacture of 2020 at the spatial symposium to expand the manufacture of stem cells in space.
Biomancycle: a type of stem cell production that uses biological materials, such as microbes to produce suitable substances and biomaterials for use in preclinical, clinical and therapeutic applications, can be more productive under microgravity conditions.
“We are finding that spatial light and microgravity is a desirable place for biomanufacture because it confers a series of very special properties to biological tissues and biological processes that can help in mass produce cells or other products in a way that does not You can do on Earth, “said Stem Biologist Arun Sharma, PhD, Research Scientist and Chief of a New Research Laboratory at the Regenerative Medicine Institute of the Board of Governors of the Cedars-Sinai, Smidt Heart Institute and Department of Biomedical Sciences.
“The last two decades have seen notable progress in regenerative medicine and exponential advancement in space technologies that allow new opportunities to access and market space,” he said.
The virtual SPACE symposium attendees in December identified more than 50 potential business opportunities to carry out biomanufacturing work in space, according to the Cedars-Sinai paper. The most promising fell into three categories: modeling of diseases, biofabrication and products derived from stem cells.
The first, the modeling of the disease, is used by scientists to study diseases and possible treatments by replication of full-function structures, whether they use stem cells, organoids (3D miniature structures cultivated from human stem cells than They resemble human tissues), or other tissues.
Researchers have found that once the body is exposed to low severity conditions for extended periods of time, it experiences an accelerated bone loss and aging. When developing disease models based on this accelerated aging process, research scientists can better understand the mechanisms of the aging process and the progression of the disease.
“Not only, this work can help astronauts, but can also lead to the manufacture of bone constructions or skeletal muscle constructions that could be applied to diseases such as osteoporosis and other forms of accelerated bone aging and muscle waste that people experience On Earth, “said Sharma, who is the corresponding author of the document.
Another highly discussed topic in the symposium was biofabriding, which uses manufacturing processes to produce materials such as tissues and organs. 3D printing is one of the basic biofabrication technologies.
A major problem with the production of these materials on Earth involves the density induced by gravity, which makes it difficult for the cells to expand and grow. With the absence of severity and density in space, scientists hope that they can use 3D printing to print unique forms and products, such as organoids or heart tissues, in a way that can not be replicated on Earth.
The third category has to do with the production of stem cells and understand how some of its fundamental properties are influenced by microgravity. Some of these properties include power, or the capacity of a stem cell to renew, and differentiation, the capacity of stem cells to become other cell types.