Tissue chips in space

The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory in collaboration with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed the “Tissue Chips in Space” initiative to promote and fund research into human physiology and disease in low Earth orbit (LEO) that will translate into advancements in Earth-based medicine. The Tissue Chips in Space initiative is part of NIH's larger Tissue Chip Program [1] that aims to develop bioengineered devices to improve the complex and expensive process of predicting whether drugs will be safe and effective or toxic in humans. These bioengineered devices, referred to as microphysiological systems, “tissue chips,” or “organs-on-a-chip,” leverage recent advances in cell biology, tissue engineering, and microfabrication to accurately model human organ tissues in in vitro platforms. These systems offer promising solutions for modelling human physiology and disease pathology for applications in areas where traditional cell culture and animal models fall short. This report provides an overview of the Tissue Chips in Space initiative, an update on the its current status, and a discussion of its potential long-term benefits.