Researchers at Airbus and the University of Zurich (UZH) plan to send materials up with the next supply flight for the ISS that will enable astronauts to grow three-dimensional organ-like tissues called organoids.
The organoids, which will be grown from human adult stem cells, cannot be produced on Earth because they require supporting skeletons due to the effect of gravity.
3D organoids are of great interest to pharmaceutical companies because they could allow drugs to be tested directly on human tissue which could produce more reliable results and eliminate the need for animal models.
Organoids grown from patient stem cells could also be used in the future as building blocks for tissue replacement therapy for damaged organs. Globally, the number of donated organs is far from sufficient to meet demand.
Initial preparatory tests on the ISS 18 months...