Medical research in space has led to results that can be used to treat patients on Earth, given the changing conditions of gravity in space, which have allowed experiments that cannot be done on our planet, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper said in a report on the subject that scientists are increasingly conducting research in space dedicated to serving human health, while being aware of the potential offered by microgravity, in which objects appear as if they are weightless.
Microgravity refers to the state of low gravity in which people and objects in space appear to be floating.
Removing the effect of gravity changes biological systems, allowing experiments that cannot be performed on Earth.
Researchers send materials into space to study treatments for cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, blindness and other conditions in this state of gravity.
Space travel is known to cause bone and muscle loss, immune suppression, changes in the central nervous system and other effects that scientists are taking advantage of to develop treatments.
Scientists confirm that exposure to microgravity replicates the effects of aging at the cellular level, says Michael Roberts, chief scientific officer at the US National Laboratory on the International Space Station. As a result, researchers can within months understand what is happening from studies that would otherwise require years of research on the ground.
Arun Sharma, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says: “What happens in space is like accelerated aging. We can study aging in a faster way in microgravity.”
Companies are working to take advantage of microgravity to improve current treatments, such as Merck, which is conducting experiments on board the International Space Station for the anti-cancer drug Keytruda, with the aim of developing a better way to administer the drug than injecting it into a vein for 30 minutes.
LambdaVision is seeking to develop an artificial retina for people who suffer from blindness due to retinal diseases, and chief scientific officer, Jordan Frico, said that the company has discovered that the artificial retina assembles better in microgravity.
Nicole Wagner, the company’s CEO, expected the artificial retina to enter clinical trials within about 3 years, and said that if it received regulatory approval, the company would manufacture it in space.
The company is cooperating with Space Tango, a biotechnology company, to create this network.
The two companies got it He received a grant from NASA to conduct a series of studies on board the International Space Station for this purpose.
NASA plans to send long-term manned missions to the moon, and eventually to Mars, and with ongoing preparations for the missions, scientists are working to develop technologies to help astronauts withstand long-term space travel and face diseases and medical emergencies.
During these manned missions, astronauts will need medications.
But medicines decompose faster in space due to high levels of radiation, according to Philip Williams, a professor of biophysics at the University of Nottingham, so he is working with a researcher at NASA to develop a suitcase-like astropharmacy that enables astronauts to produce medicines on demand.
“If we can make medicine for astronauts, we can make it for anyone,” Williams said.
Through the “Moxy” instrument on the “Perseverance” rover, NASA was able to break up the molecules of the Martian air and generate a small, constant supply of oxygen, according to a report published by the “Science Alert” website.
NASA confirms the possibility of producing oxygen on Mars
NASA said that the production of “breathable oxygen in the Martian atmosphere is possible.”
2023-09-24 15:09:57
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