If you've been ill in bed for a long time, you'll know the feeling: muscles are wasting away, the body is changing. Something similar happens in space, only much more extreme. Seeing astronauts floating on board the ISS looks impressive. But weightlessness and radiation put enormous stress on the body because they change fundamental biological processes. Researchers at TU Dresden are investigating how these influences affect mouse liver tissue grown in the laboratory. Both under simulated space conditions - and in space itself.
The project is called ILLUMINATE and is part of the Cellbox program of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The researchers are not sending real organs into space, but so-called organoids. These are mini-models of the liver grown in the laboratory, about the size of a pinhead. These are housed in a smartphone-sized mini-laboratory in a spacecraft and orbit the Earth for several weeks.
What space brings us on Earth
The findings from space could help to develop new drugs and design protection strategies for organs during long-term missions. After all, understanding how tissue reacts under extreme stress can also help combat diseases on Earth, such as liver disease or radiation-induced damage after cancer therapy.
"The Cellbox program impressively demonstrates how basic research and applied science intertwine," emphasizes Prof. Esther Troost, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden. "The participation of Dresden University Medicine in this project is a valuable opportunity for us to better understand the adaptability of the human body and to gain new impetus for the healthcare system." The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection is funding ILLUMINATE with around 280,000 euros until October 2028.
Further information on the ILLUMINATE project can be found here.
