Organoids grown onboard ISS could provide benefits on Earth

The '3D Organoids in Space' project conducted by the Space Hub of the University of Zurich (UZH) and Airbus Defence and Space will use the zero-gravity conditions on the ISS to grow organoids - three-dimensional organ-like tissues grown from human stem cells - for use on Earth in research and medicine.

"On Earth, three-dimensional organoids cannot be produced without supporting skeletons because of gravity," said UZH biologist Cora Thiel.

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The project was initiated in 2018 and in March 2020 250 test tubes containing human stem cells spent a month on the ISS where differentiated organ-like liver, bone and cartilage structures developed from tissue stem cells. Cultures created on Earth, which were grown as controls under normal gravity conditions, showed no or minimal cell differentiation.

“We are the first to show that the path to production in space is feasible, not in theory, but in practice," said Oliver Ullrich, a professor of anatomy at UZH.