Author: John A. Wagner, MD, PhD on October 29, 2019 .png)
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." — Neil Armstrong
It’s been 50 years since we landed on the moon, and technologic innovation – both in space and on earth – has bounded forward. One of those technology innovations has been microphysiological systems, or “organs-on-chips.” Microphysiological systems have previously been the subject of Clinical and Translational Science, including the Commentary, Microphysiological Systems (“Organs‐on‐Chips”) for Drug Efficacy and Toxicity Testing, by Low and Tagle, and the Review, Emerging Role of Organ‐on‐a‐Chip Technologies in Quantitative Clinical Pharmacology Evaluation, by Isoherranen et al.
Microphysiological systems are tissue chips that typically contain human cells on an artificial scaffold that models the structure and function of intact human tissues and organs. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) has been very active sponsoring tissue chip projects in this area for a variety of uses, including more efficient toxicologic screening, all with the intent to accelerate therapeutic discovery and development.
More recently, Yeung et al. discuss Tissue Chips in Space—Challenges and Opportunities, taking these earthly microphysiological system innovations into space. Why space? Microgravity experienced in space impacts humans in a number of ways, including muscle wasting, immunosuppression, cardiovascular effects, and decreases in bone density. Using tissues chips in a microgravity environment may be an excellent experimental tool to study the health effects of space. More than research restricted to how astronauts can live healthy lives on the way to Mars, tissue chip experiments in a microgravity environment may also illuminate insights on aging and aging-related chronic diseases.
Image by Yeung, et al. Clin. Trans. Sci., https://ascpt.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cts.12689, is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Photograph courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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