Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are trying to find new ways to produce massive batches of a type of stem cell that can give rise to almost any other type of cell in the body — and potentially be used for treatments for many diseases. The cells arrived at the International Space Station over the weekend on a supply ship. “I don’t think I could pay what it costs now” to take a private spacewalk, Sareen said. “At least a part of me in the cells can ascend!” The experiment is the latest research project involving launching stem cells into space. Some, like this one, aim to overcome the earthly difficulty of mass-producing the cells. Others are investigating how space travel affects the body’s cells. And some help better understand diseases like cancer. “By pushing the boundaries like this, it’s knowledge and science and learning,” said Clive Svendsen, executive director of Cedars-Sinai’s Regenerative Medicine Institute. Six previous projects from the US, China and Italy sent various types of stem cells — including his team’s study of the effects of microgravity on cellular heart function, said Stanford University’s Dr. Joseph Wu, who directs the Cardiovascular Institute of Stanford. Wu helped coordinate a number of space-based stem cell research programs last year. On-the-ground applications of much of this research may be some way off. At this point, the only stem cell-based products approved by the Food and Drug Administration contain blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood for patients with blood disorders, such as some cases of lymphoma. There are no approved treatments using the kind of stem cells sent into space or others derived from them, said Jeffrey Millman, a biomedical engineering specialist at Washington University in St. Louis. However, ongoing stem cell clinical trials are targeting conditions such as macular degeneration, Parkinson’s disease and heart attack damage. And Millman is involved in research that could lead to a new approach to treating type 1 diabetes. Scientists see great promise in stem cells. READ ALSO: VIDEO: Family BC seeks stem cell match for baby with rare blood disorder THE DILEMMA OF GRAVITY That promise is tempered by a frustrating Earth problem: the planet’s gravity makes it difficult to grow the massive amounts of cells necessary for future therapies that may require more than a billion per patient. “With the current technology right now, even if the FDA were to immediately approve some of these treatments, we don’t have the ability to manufacture” what’s needed, Millman said. Issue? In large bioreactors, the cells must be stirred vigorously or clump or fall to the bottom of the tank, Millman said. Stress can cause most cells to die. “At zero G, there’s no force on the cells, so they can just grow in a different way,” Svendsen said. The Cedars-Sinai team sent what are called induced pluripotent stem cells. Many scientists consider them the perfect starting materials for all kinds of personalized cell-based therapies. They carry the patient’s own DNA and their flexibility makes them similar to embryonic stem cells, only reprogrammed from adult skin or blood cells. For their experiment, which is funded by NASA, a container the size of a shoebox contains bags filled with spheres of cells and all the pumps and solutions needed to keep them alive for four weeks. The cargo will also include neural stem cells derived from Svendsen. The scientists used stem cells derived from their own white blood cells because it was easy for them to give their consent. They will run the experiment remotely with a box of cells on Earth for comparison. They will restart the space experiment in about five weeks, when it returns to the same SpaceX capsule. The project is designed to pave the way for more NASA-funded research. If they are able to figure out how to create billions of cells in orbit, Svendsen said, “the impact could be huge.” A HIGH FUTURE During the same cargo launch, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, sent blood stem cells to the space station, a repeat of an experiment they did last year. They want to find out if low Earth orbit causes cells to age faster, leading to problems that set the stage for precancerous changes. One goal is to protect the health of astronauts. Afshin Beheshti, a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center, said scientists are just beginning to understand some of the dangers of space travel. “There are more unknowns in space than known,” he said. “Any new kind of experiment will shed light on how the body responds to the space environment.” Ultimately, Beheshti said, the research should yield more than practical, down-to-earth solutions like new drugs. It will also help distant human aspirations, such as life on other planets.
The Associated Press Health and Science Section is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Division. AP is solely responsible for all content. Laura Ungar, The Associated Press Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Science
