Connecting Researchers For a Collaboration That May Change Thinking in a Field of Study

When I was first asked in early 2016 if we were funding a research project that might benefit from study in 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., I knew almost nothing about research in space. A couple of months and several conversations with colleagues later, I was fully aware of the game-changing advances being made possible with study in microgravity and was excited by the opportunity to move a project forward with this potential leapfrogging ability to see and understand biology in a way not possible on Earth.

Two of our funded research projects immediately came to mind, one in New York studying cell cross-talk between support cells around oligodendrocytes (the myelin-producing cells that are damaged or lost in multiple sclerosis and a number of rare genetic disorders) and one in California developing a dopaminergic cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease using the kind of dopamine-producing nerve cells lost in Parkinson’s. Both projects were led by recognized experts in their fields and both would likely benefit from study in microgravity, but the synergies possible if they joined hands might change everything. It would be a collaboration across institutions and disciplines, but if they were willing, it could be a collaboration that might change thinking in a field of study.

On SpaceX’s 19^th commercial resupply services (CRS) mission, the National Stem Cell Foundation-funded collaboration between renowned researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute and Aspen Neuroscience sent a first-in-kind study of neurodegeneration to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) U.S. National Laboratory with patient-specific, three-dimensional organoids of Parkinson’s and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The organoids incorporate microglia, the inflammatory cells of the immune system implicated in the development of Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative diseases. The engineering required to facilitate the transport of cells and culture in orbit is being led by ISS National Lab 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. Space Tango.

The ability to observe cell-to-cell interaction, cell migration, changes in gene expression, and the common pathways of neuroinflammation for both diseases in microgravity is an opportunity to watch biological processes in a way that’s not possible on Earth. The potential for new insight into the fundamental mechanisms of disease development in neurodegeneration could enable progress across the field for diseases and conditions affecting many millions of people worldwide—and accelerate new drug and cell therapy options for the patients who need them now.

I am grateful and constantly amazed by the unselfish exchange of ideas and technology between these two world-class research teams. Working together, they’ve generated innovative approaches to disease modeling in microgravity that may answer questions we have or don’t yet know to ask about how neurodegenerative diseases develop. And the answers to those questions might lead to the identification of new pathways to intervention for diseases that affect so many of us.