--Must See--

Bioinformatics Summer Internship 2024 With Hands-On-Training + Project / Dissertation - 30 Days, 3 Months & 6 Months Duration

Space Research: The next big thing to cure cancer

The Houston Methodist Research Institute and the International Space Station’s Center for Advancement of Science in Space has come together to create an organization first of its kind in Texas, the Center of Space Nanomedicine. As a branch off of both NASA’s and the Methodist Hospital’s Department of Nanomedicine, this new center will focus on exploiting the low gravity space environment to experiment and research on nanotechnical solutions for diseases and treatment challenges. So far NASA and the Center for Advancement of Science in Space have contributed to the funding of four experiments at a worth of an approximate $2.7 million.

We are on the verge of something big,” said Alessandro Grattoni, director of the Houston Methodist Center of Space Nanomedicine. “It could change the way chemotherapy is delivered.”

A concept developed by Grattoni involves a reloadable implant, inserted under the skin, which is trained to attack tumors and ferret out hidden metastasized cells. The first experiment launched on Space X-8 last month and is expected to shed light on the mysterious way particles diffuse as they move through tight nanospaces. Grattoni’s team, working with particles 50,000 times smaller than the

human hair, have previously only viewed their work via computer modeling.

Grattoni’s device, called a nanochannel delivery system or “nDS,” is an 18 mm-wide (two-thirds of an inch) squat cylinder. It contains a reservoir for drugs and a silicon membrane housing 615,342 channels as small as 2.5 nm. The channels are sized and shaped to control drug release, and the exactness of the design is achieved using nanotechnology techniques developed by Grattoni and Ferrari. Drug movement through the channels is controlled by surface electrodes that “tune” the rate of drug delivery. Below the drug reservoir is a battery and electronics that can be activated to influence the rate at which drugs exit through the porous membrane. The electrodes are controlled via radio-frequency remote control.

The project is studying the diffusion of drug molecules through nano channels encased in DVD-sized panels, enabling scientists to view the movement of the 2.8-micrometer particles without gravity’s tug.

Micro-gravity provides scientists with 3-D viewing of cell behavior. Fluorescent microscopes on the ISS are sending real-time images to NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Grattoni and his team are seeing the fruits of their work for the first time.

Space is accelerating our research,” said Grattoni. “It’s exciting knowing it’s actually going to be used by someone rather than just being a benchmark.” Austin-based NanoMedical Systems has the license on the invention.

Peace-lover, creative, smart and intelligent. Prapti is a foodie, music buff and a travelholic. After leaving a top-notch full time corporate job, she now works as an Online Editor for Biotecnika. Keen on making a mark in the scientific publishing industry, she strives to find a work-life balance. Follow her for more updates!