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April 19 (UPI) -- NASA's Crew 2 payload is scheduled to carry several important science experiments to the International Space Station this week. During a press briefing on Monday, investigators detailed several of the experiments slated to make the trip to ISS.
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Several of the experiments involve the growth of biological tissues in 3D, which can allow scientists to study the development and behavior of different types of cells.
"We know that cells communicate with each other and we know that this communication is critical for their functioning," Liz Warren said during the briefing.
"We don't fully understand why, but in microgravity, cell-to-cell communication works differently than it does in a cell culture flask on Earth," said Warren, senior program director at the ISS U.S. National Laboratory.
On the space station, human cells aggregate or clump together differently than they do in labs on Earth.
"These features allow cells to behave more like they do when inside the body," Warren said. "Thus, microgravity appears to provide a unique opportunity for tissue engineering."
Scientists hope the insights provided by the tissue engineering experiments on ISS will help them improve their ability to grow 3D human tissue back on Earth -- whether to use as models to study various diseases and therapeutics or to use as replacement tissue for patients.
Researchers are also sending a new kind of tissue chip to the space station. Tissue chips, which feature a small sample of organ cells on a 3D chip, are used to model disease and test drugs or vaccines.
Studying tissue chips in space makes sense for the same reasons scientists are keen to test tissue engineering technologies on ISS: cells behave more realistically in microgravity.
But there's another reason.
"Astronauts go through quite a lot of physiological changes when they experience microgravity," said Lucie Low, who works with tissue chips at the National Institutes of Health. "And the changes they experience look very similar to some the aging disorders and diseases we see down here on Earth."
"For example, astronauts lose a lot of bone density very quickly in microgravity, and that looks very similar to something like osteoporosis," Low said.
In addition to osteoporosis, tissue chips being sent to ISS on Crew 2 will be used to study the effects of aging on the immune system, lung immune response, musculoskeletal disease, kidney function, muscle loss and more.
A separate investigation will also take an in-depth look at the impacts of microgravity on the immune system.
"The CHIME investigation could help identify potential causes of immune system dysfunction and lead to ways to prevent or counteract it, helping space travelers as well as those with compromised immune systems on Earth," according to NASA.
In addition to a handful of important science experiments, the Crew 2 capsule will also carry several new crew members to the space station, including NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, as well as the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akihiko Hoside.
Crew 2 is scheduled to be launched into space by a Falcon 9 rocket early Thursday morning from Kennedy Space Center.
For bioengineers working with live biological samples, the proximity of NASA's launch pads to major research laboratories is important.
"Because these vehicles launch from Florida and land off the U.S. coastline, we can get better science because we have easier access both to the launch and landing sites," David Brady said during Monday's briefing.
"We reduce the time from lab to launch pad and landing site back to the lab," said Brady, associate program scientist for the ISS program at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
