Agnirva Space Premier League - Expedition #31789: Fighting Cancer from Space: mRNA Screening in Microgravity

Microgravity may seem like an unlikely ally in the fight against cancer, but that’s exactly what Dr. Yusuf Erkul and his team explored in the groundbreaking experiment titled 'Leveraging Microgravity to Screen Onco-selective Messenger RNAs for Cancer Immunotherapy'.

Conducted aboard the ISS during Expeditions 63 and 64, this experiment utilized the unique environment of space to test how cancer-selective mRNAs behave in microgravity. These messenger RNAs are engineered to trigger immune responses only in cancerous cells—leaving healthy cells untouched. In the weightlessness of space, cells can grow in three dimensions, more closely mimicking the structure of human tissues. This makes space an ideal lab for studying mRNA interactions in a way that's hard to replicate on Earth.

The project brought together a collaboration of innovators: Kernal Biologics, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, CASIS, and BioServe Space Technologies. Their collective goal was to identify the most promising mRNA candidates for cancer immunotherapy, with findings that could fast-track treatments for various types of cancer.

Space offers a lens into biology that's unobstructed by gravity. These studies not only bring hope to cancer research but also highlight the ISS's role as a powerful biomedical research platform.

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