Cancer research on Chinese space station could lead to new therapies to fight disease, by studying effects of gravity on tumours
- Researchers theorise that tumours stop growing in zero gravity, and isolating the effect of weightlessness on cancer cells will help understand their properties
- Study will also examine the impact of cosmic radiation on cancer risk for astronauts on long space missions, such as to Mars, and seeks ways to make trips safer
An unusual cancer research project investigating tumours in space has been given the go-ahead for the soon to-be-launched Chinese Space Station.
The project will examine the roles of microgravity and cosmic radiation in tumour growth and development, and look at whether weightlessness can stop cancer from growing.
“Space is constantly opening up new frontiers for humanity to advance, as demonstrated by this project, which aims to find new ways to reduce tumours – one of the main killers of our time,” says Simonetta Di Pippo, director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa).
She said Unoosa’s partnership with the China Manned Space Agency makes it possible for such an interesting experiment to be conducted on board the Chinese Space Station. The Tumours in Space project is one of nine research proposals that the two bodies have selected to be conducted on the new space station in 2022.
“The plan is to send three-dimensional stem cell organoids from both healthy and cancer tissue from the same person into space. Here, we will study mutations and look at how the cells’ DNA is affected by weightlessness and cosmic radiation,” says Tricia Larose, the Canadian research lead, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.