Researchers launch new project leveraging the ISS National Lab to improve nanomaterial production for future osteoarthritis and cancer treatments
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.—Researchers from the University of Connecticut and Eascra Biotech are producing innovative nanomaterials in space to improve treatments for osteoarthritis and cancer in patients on Earth.
The team’s groundbreaking research is featured in the most recent issue of Upward, official magazine of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory®. The latest in the team’s series of ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations is launching to the orbiting outpost on SpaceX’s 32nd resupply mission for NASA, according to a release from the ISS National Laboratory.
Janus base nanomaterials (JBNs), developed by University of Connecticut associate professor Yupeng Chen and his team, are composed of synthetic molecules that self-assemble into structures resembling human DNA. These materials are seen as having the potential to provide life-changing treatment for the nearly 33 million Americans with osteoarthritis, a condition in which joint cartilage breaks down over time, causing painful inflammation.
The injectable nanomaterials are reported to help regenerate lost cartilage, allowing patients to avoid painful and costly joint replacement surgery. Janus base nanomaterials could also be used in precision cancer treatment to carry drugs into hard-to-penetrate solid tumors that are difficult to treat, the release stated.
To advance JBNs to commercial products, Chen and his colleague, Mari Anne Snow, formed the spinoff company Eascra Biotech. However, during JBN production on Earth, gravity-driven forces like convection cause the molecules to aggregate in some places as they bond together. This is reported to reduce the uniformity of the nanomaterials, resulting in defects that affect their quality.
In partnership with Axiom Space, the team leveraged the ISS National Lab to test the production of JBNs in space, where gravity-driven forces are greatly reduced. Results reportedly showed that in-space production significantly improves the structure of the JBNs and increases their uniformity, leading to better patient outcomes.
“We have refined our production procedure and verified that our nanomaterials can be better produced in microgravity, and we achieve not only better uniformity but also better bioactivity,” Chen said in the Upward article.
The team is now optimizing its in-space production procedures and is developing an automated system to scale up space-based JBN manufacturing on future platforms in low Earth orbit.
“Our goal every single flight is to get closer to being production-ready and to optimize the formulation for commercialization,” Snow said in the article.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit.
Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector, the release stated.