Microgravity in space could cause cancer – but on Earth, mimicking weightlessness may help researchers develop treatments

As space travel gains traction and astronauts spend increasing amounts of time in space, studying health effects becomes more critical.

Is space travel really secure? Far from it – research has shown that the results of space radiation and microgravity on the human body are each harmful and long-lasting. However, creating space conditions on Earth could potentially help researchers treat cancer.

We are Biomedical engineers Study what the body is like Cells change under microgravity. By mimicking Earth's microgravity conditions, researchers can study their effects without space travel.

Laboratory research in space

Microgravity is a condition by which gravity is amazingly weak and objects are almost weightless. This happens in space, where Earth's gravity rarely affects astronauts.

It could be a microgravity environment for an prolonged time frame Multiple health problemsincluding bone loss, muscle weakness, facial swelling and heart changes. Even after astronauts return to Earth, their bodies Don't go completely back to normal.

By studying how cells, organs and tissues reply to microgravity, scientists can higher understand easy methods to address associated harmful changes to the body. By conducting research on laboratory samples in space faces significant challenges.

It is pricey to launch devices and samples, and experiments have to be planned around weightless conditions and launch force. Strict deadlines, limited access to space missions, and reliance on astronauts to conduct experiments increase the complexity of those studies, making rigor and collaboration critical to success.

Accessing samples after they’ve been sent into space can be difficult. They risk being damaged during harsh space conditions and through transport back to Earth.

The planning means of planning and conducting a laboratory study in space will be time-consuming and limit the practicality of frequent experiments.

Study of microgravity on Earth

To address these problems, scientists have developed devices that may simulate microgravity conditions on Earth.

This is such a tool Knocksa machine that repeatedly rotates to mimic the results of low gravity. By continuously rotating, it distributes the results of gravity evenly in order that the sample is “weightless,” or near it. To mimic the results of microgravity, the clinostat must turn around Just the fitting speed – fast enough that the sample doesn’t reply to gravity, but not so fast that it feels other strong forces.

Another method called dielectrophoresis Places particles like cells in a non-uniform electric field. Unlike a uniform electric field, which is identical strength and direction in all places, a non-uniform electric field changes at different points. This non-uniform field causes cells to maneuver based on differences of their electrical properties in comparison with the fluid surrounding them, allowing researchers to separate and study them. While this system is widely used on Earth, it could allow researchers to explore its application in microgravity environments to more precisely manipulate particles and conduct research that isn’t feasible under Earth's gravity.

Tools similar to clinostats and dielectrophoresis offer a neater, cheaper and faster strategy to study the results of microgravites on cells in comparison with space missions. They are inexpensive and portable and require inexpensive equipment and a smaller sample volume to quickly generate reliable data.

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Microgravity and cancer

While microgravity could cause cancer, it may additionally help researchers higher understand and treat cancer.

Cancer is some of the difficult diseases to treat since it develops rapidly and sometimes becomes immune to available treatments. By observing cancer cells in microgravity, researchers can study how they grow, divide and reply to drugs under different conditions. In easy terms, we take cancer cells out of their comfort zone to see how they react to an unknown environment.

For example, researchers have observed that cancer cells have Improved survival under microgravity. They also saw changes to their electrical properties. Other studies have shown that microgravity can Alter immune cell function and the way cells communicate with one another.

Our team and others assume that cancer cells can respond more effectively to certain medications when exposed to a weightless environment. We are exploring whether we will use microgravity to govern cancer cells to behave less aggressively and turn out to be more liable to treatment.

This research continues to be in its infancy. However, if these findings could help researchers develop latest treatments that might be more practical here on Earth again.