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Running for the next two years at the University of Manchester, the project aims to enhance the power of bioprinting technology, which involves printing living cells to create skin, bone, tissue, or organs for transplantation.
The technique, which uses specialised 3D printers, could “revolutionise medicine”, according to a University of Manchester announcement. “Specifically in the realm of space travel, bioprinting could have a significant impact.”
Astronauts on extended space missions have an increased health risk due to the absence of gravity and exposure to radiation. This makes them susceptible to diseases such as osteoporosis – caused by loss of bone density – and can cause injuries, such as fractures, which currently can’t be treated in space.
By harnessing bioprinting capabilities in space, researchers aim to protect the health of space explorers.
Currently, bioprinting machines rely on Earth’s gravity to function effectively. The new research, funded by a £200,000 grant from the UK Space Agency and supported by the European Space Agency, seeks to understand how to optimise the bioprinting process for conditions experienced in space, such as lack of gravity.
Dr Marco Domingos, senior lecturer in mechanical and aeronautical engineering at the University of Manchester, said: “This project marks a significant leap forward in bioprinting technology, and by addressing the challenges posed by microgravity, we are paving the way for remarkable advancements in medicine and space exploration.”
The project “will help strengthen the UK’s leadership in the areas of fluid mechanics, soft matter physics and biomaterials, and could help protect the health of astronauts exploring space around the Earth, Moon and beyond,” said Libby Moxon, exploration science officer for lunar and microgravity.
“We’re backing technology and capabilities that support ambitious space exploration missions to benefit the global space community, and we look forward to following this bioprinting research as it evolves.”
The team will eventually take its findings to a bioprinting station being developed onboard the International Space Station, which will allow researchers to print models in space and study the effects of radiation and microgravity.
Dr Domingos said: “The first challenge is figuring out how to print anything where there is no gravity. There are few facilities in the UK that are suitable to study the bioprinting process within an environment that matches that of space – they are either too small, or the time in which microgravity conditions are applied are too short. Hence, it is important to print in space to advance our knowledge in this field.
“By combining the principles of physics with bioprinting at the University of Manchester, we hope to come up with a solution before taking it to the International Space Station for testing.”
The project will take place at the Bioprinting Technology Platform at the Henry Royce Institute.
The researchers hope to progress beyond the challenge of microgravity to address further challenges of preserving, transporting and processing cells in space.
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