3D Bioprinting in space could accelerate cancer research

At the University of Colorado in Boulder, a research center affiliated with NASA is using 3D bioprinting to develop more realistic cancer cell structures aboard the International Space Station. Under a research project called Magnetic 3D Cell Culturing, Their hopes are that this will ultimately help them understand how these cells develop and form in the body, thus advancing research on cancer treatment.

Studies conducted by researchers today on cancer cells are harder to understand and more difficult to conduct, because of the form of the cancer cells that they study. In the human body, cancer cells develop into a complex, spherical like structure. In the in vitro labs where cancer studies are conducted, the cells they study do not share this same shape characteristic as the cells are in a layer form.

An in vitro cell culture

Researchers at the BioServe Space Technologies Center believe that they have found a solution to this, with a new method called Magnetic 3D Cell Culturing. Through this method, researchers believe that they will be able to create cancer cell structures that are more similar to those found in the human body, by using the microgravity of the Space Station to effectively control cell movements through magnetism.