R&D Progress and Successes

R&D Progress and Successes

At a Glance

• This year, 27 peer-reviewed publications detail results related to ISSInternational Space Station National Lab-sponsored R&D, with a majority related to investigations funded by NIH and NSF.
• Since 2016, joint CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes)./NSF solicitations have resulted in more than $22 million in funding awarded to investigators via NSF grant awards and funding for Implementation Partner(Abbreviation: IP) Commercial companies that work with the ISS National Lab to provide services related to payload development, including the translation of ground-based science to a space-based platform. costs to support ISS National Lab flight projects.
• CASIS released four NLRAs this year to support advancement of ISS National Lab R&D strategic focus areas.

FY21 was a robust year for ISS National Lab R&D progress, with 27 peer-reviewed publications on investigations sponsored by the ISS National Lab, tying last year’s record for most publications in a single fiscal year. This brings the total number of peer-reviewed articles resulting from ISS National Lab-sponsored R&D to more than 150, and the total number of internationally published articles from ISS research to nearly 3,000. These publications complement the 15 products, multiple spinoff companies, and 5 patents to date resulting from ISS National Lab-sponsored research.

Most of this year’s peer-reviewed publications (citations for which can be found in Appendix E) were related to investigations funded through joint solicitations with NSF and NIH, with the majority focused on aspects of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Peer-reviewed journal articles such as these are a critical means to disseminate findings from fundamental R&D activities. Journal publications not only advance scientific knowledge but also lend credibility, prestige, and merit to investigators who test hypotheses and demonstrate the capabilities of research platforms such as the ISS.

Further bolstering the ISS National Lab focus area of regenerative medicine, the Cell Press publishing company released a special collection of 23 articles on the biology of spaceflight. Several of these articles mentioned ISS National Lab R&D, and one was authored by ISS National Lab staff highlighting open-source spaceflight data. Additionally, a perspective paper was published in Preprints discussing the goals and outcomes of a Biomanufacturing in Space Symposium co-hosted by the ISS National Lab and the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The symposium gathered more than 130 thought leaders in regenerative medicine and space-based R&D as a first step in developing a roadmap to establish a sustainable biomanufacturing market in LEO(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles..

FY21 peer-reviewed publications include the following:

• Two peer-reviewed publications detail results from a rodent research investigation examining the effects of microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. on wound healing. The articles discuss how spaceflight provides a unique environment to identify key biomolecular processes that facilitate tissue regeneration.
• An investigator from Loma Linda University published a new paper detailing the impact of microgravity on cardiac progenitor cells (early-stage heart cells). This marks the fifth publication on results from this investigation, which is leveraging microgravity to improve cell-based therapies for heart conditions on Earth.
• An Emory University researcher, working with ISS National Lab Commercial Service ProviderImplementation Partners that own and operate commercial facilities for the support of research on the ISS or are developing future facilities. Techshot, Inc., published a paper on a new protocol for cryopreserving cardiac progenitor cells, transporting them to the ISS, and cultivating them in space. The protocol makes it easier to deliver cells to the ISS, provides more flexibility in preparing for launch, reduces the impact of launch loads on the cells, and allows for changes in astronaut schedules. Such protocols are critical to achieving the long-term goals of in-space biomanufacturing.
• Student researchers published results from their ISS National Lab-sponsored investigation in the open access journal PLOS One. Their project, awarded through the Genes in SpaceAn annual national research competition for students in grades 7 through 12 to design pioneering biotechnology experiments that are conducted by astronauts on the space station. The program is funded by Boeing and miniPCR bio and supported by the ISS National Laboratory® and New England BioLabs. program, was the first to utilize CRISPER/Cas9 gene editing techniques in space.
• This year, 11 published papers detailed work on projects sponsored through the NIH Tissue Chips in Space initiative. An additional 11 papers discussed investigations awarded through NSF/CASIS joint solicitations (five on tissue engineering and six in the physical sciences area of transport phenomena).

Additionally, in FY21, biotechnology company Emulate, Inc. filed a patent related to its Intestine On-Chip, developed in part through company’s NIH-funded Tissue Chips in Space research. This marks the second patent Emulate has filed for this technology. Additionally, the company released its commercially available Brain-Chip this year, also developed through Tissue Chips in Space research. The Brain-Chip provides a model to study diseases involving neuroinflammation, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and to test potential new therapeutics. Emulate plans to fly a version of the Brain-Chip to the space station in another ISS National Lab-sponsored investigation scheduled to launch in FY22.

To support the full R&D life cycle (from fundamental research to product commercialization), multiple ISS National Lab solicitations were released in FY21. On the front end of the research life cycle, two FY21 NSF-sponsored solicitations continued to support fundamental science that leverages the persistent microgravity environment of the ISS to advance scientific discovery for the benefit of Earth. Beginning in 2016, CASIS has partnered with the NSF Engineering Directorate on these annual research solicitations, including six solicitations in the physical sciences area of transport phenomena (2016 through 2021) and four solicitations in the biomedical area of tissue engineering and mechanobiology (2018 through 2021). In total, these solicitation cycles have resulted in the award of 38 NSF peer-reviewed proposals representing 40 payloads—and the infusion of more than $22 million of non-NASA grant funding to the principal investigators via the NSF grant awards and funding for the Implementation Partners supporting their spaceflight investigations.

In support of the later stages of product development, CASIS released a new series of NLRAs during FY21 to advance ISS National Lab R&D strategic focus areas. One NLRAThe abbreviation for an ISS National Lab Research Announcement. NLRAs are one of the ISS National Lab’s primary mechanisms to solicit proposals in specific research areas. sought flight projects within applied research and development, translational science, technology readiness level(Abbreviation: TRL) A measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. There are nine technology readiness levels, and technology progresses from TRL 1 to TRL 9. maturation, and technology demonstrations. Two additional NLRAs were focused on in-space production applications(Abbreviation: InSPA) InSPA is an applied research and development program sponsored by NASA and the ISS National Lab aimed at demonstrating space-based manufacturing and production activities by using the unique space environment to develop, test, or mature products and processes that could have an economic impact., one in advanced manufacturing and materials and the other in tissue engineering and biomanufacturing. Another NLRA was centered on STEM education, specifically focusing on digital engagement and higher education. In total, $3.4M  was set aside in support of these new initiatives, and during FY21, 25 projects were awarded under these NLRAs. (For a full list of FY21 solicitations, see Appendix A. For a full list of selected ISS National Lab-sponsored projects, see Appendix F).