No Container, No Problem—Studying Self-Contained Spheres of Liquid Protein in Space Could Help Improve Medicine on Earth

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), November 30, 2023 – How could studying liquid drops of protein solution in space help solve an Achilles’ heel in medicine production on Earth? Find out in the latest issue of Upward, official magazine of the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory.

Protein-based therapeutics treat and prevent a wide range of conditions, from cancer to HIV, but protein clumping during manufacturing is a problem. Finding a way to avoid or reverse clumping could remove a major roadblock, but studying the complex motion of proteins in solution on Earth is difficult. This is because the proteins interact with the walls of the container holding the solution, which affects their behavior.

In the 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. environment on the space station, researchers from Arizona State University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute did something impossible on Earth—they studied protein solutions without a container. In the absence of gravity, the liquid forms into a floating, self-contained sphere, allowing the team to study protein motion in new ways and create models to better understand the factors that lead to protein clumping.

Learn more about this exciting investigation in the most recent issue of Upward, which is dedicated to communicating the results of space station experiments that demonstrate the value of space-based research and development. Read the article “A Small Drop With a Big Impact” to see how studying spherical drops of liquid protein in microgravity could help lead to valuable improvements in therapeutic manufacturing.

Download the high-resolution image for this release: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

Media Contact:       
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org

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About the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory: 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 Lab allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve 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(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.. 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 Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (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).) manages the ISS National Laboratory®, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit issnationallab.org.

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