Cosmic Brain Organoids

Brain organoids are small 3D aggregates of neural cells that can be used to explore how the human nervous system develops or starts to degenerate (in diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis), and how safe and effective therapeutics might be. Using human neural cells means human-specific biochemical pathways can be uncovered or targeted, helping reduce the need for animal studies that may not replicate human neural responses or predict how well humans respond to different treatments. The Cosmic Brain Organoids project will use brain organoids derived from the stem cells of patients with the neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson's disease and primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, to assess how microgravity affects the cells and uncover cellular pathways that could suggest novel therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases on Earth.

Image: NASA Image: JSC2021E059092 - Image shows neural outgrowth from human neural organoids returned to the lab after more than a month on the International Space Station. Image courtesy of Dr. Jeanne Frances Loring.