Cancer in low-Earth Orbit

In partnership with Axiom Space, the Cancer in LEO project from the Sanford Stem Cell Institute will study tumor organoids in microgravity with the goal to identify early warning signs of cancer for prediction and prevention of the disease. This project is part of the expanded ISSCOR collaboration between the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, JM Foundation, and Axiom Space, which aims to use microgravity to further understand stem cells, cancer, and aging-related effects in space to develop better prediction of disease and therapeutics for patients on Earth.

The  Space Hematopoietic Stem Cell Aging (SASHA) project on Ax-3 is a project from the Sanford Stem Cell Institute/UC San Diego in partnership with Axiom Space. The project investigates the activity of RNA-editing enzymes (including ADAR1, also being investigated in the Cancer in LEO project) that are involved in mutations that may be related to the development of immune dysfunction-related disease states and cancer. Understanding how the gene editing enzymes are affected by microgravity in hematopoietic cells (blood stem cells) could give insight into how leukemias and other cancers develop on Earth. This project is part of the expanded Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Reseach (ISSCOR) collaboration between the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, JM Foundation, and Axiom Space, which aims to use microgravity to further understand stem cells, cancer, and aging-related effects in space in order to develop better prediction of disease and therapeutics for patients on Earth.  

Image credit: UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute