国际空间站最新研究致力于开发骨质疏松症、眼疾和肌肉萎缩的新疗法。欧洲哥伦布舱内进行着四个生物实验，研究微重力环境对肌肉、视网膜和干细胞的影响，开发药物与其他对策。欧洲航天局航天员Paolo Nespoli将预装的细胞样品放到温控器中，7天后在返回地球前冷冻样品。目前，研究人员正在对样品进行分析。

研究人员通过两种方法研究肌肉细胞，一种是对比Polo飞行前后的腿部肌肉细胞样本，一种是采用Kubik装置进行实验。针对Kubik装置中的肌肉细胞样本，研究人员关注特定蛋白质的细胞释放。针对视网膜细胞，研究人员用辅酶Q10来处理部分细胞，看看能量生成化合物是否能抵消辐射和微重力的影响。此外，研究人员还观察干细胞是否能抵抗微重力引起的骨质流失，具有抗氧化特性的纳米颗粒是否有助于处理细胞受到压力时所发生的过量氧化。

Cells in Space

Laboratories on Earth hardly make the news, unless they come up with life-saving cures. So why would anyone care about a lab in space? The medicine you take on Earth begins with cell research, and the latest experiments on the International Space Station are helping to develop new treatments for osteoporosis, eye diseases and muscle atrophy.  

On a biological mission

Four biological experiments conducted in Europe’s Columbus module on the Station are looking into how microgravity wears down muscle, retinal and stem cells to develop medicine and other countermeasures. 

Thanks to the Kubik hardware, the experiment was relatively easy to perform. ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli loaded prepacked cell samples into the temperature-controlled incubator. After seven days, Paolo froze the samples ahead of their return to Earth on a cargo craft. Researchers are now analysing the samples.  

A closer look at Kubik

Across the four experiments, conducted on behalf of Italy’s ASI space agency, the overarching goal was to understand how to prevent cell death. Diseases occur when our cells can no longer cope with toxins and other stresses and eventually break down. Finding a solution means first understanding the full scale of the problem.  

Researchers are studying muscle cells in two ways. A preflight biopsy of Paolo’s leg muscles will be compared to a sample upon his return to Earth. For the muscle cell samples in Kubik, researchers zeroed in on specific proteins the cells release to understand if they could play a role in combating cell damage.  

For the retinal cells, researchers treated a portion of the cells with “Q10 coenzyme” to see if the energy-generating compound would counteract the effects of radiation and microgravity.

Stem cells were also included to understand how they behave and whether they could be used to counteract microgravity-induced bone loss.

The last of the experiments studied whether nanoparticles, which have antioxidant properties, could help cells to handle the excess oxidation that occurs when the cell is stressed. 

While muscle atrophy, osteoporosis and vision problems may not be on the minds of the vast majority of Earth dwellers, it’s this type of research that makes it possible to develop better drugs and other measures for these problems.

Added to that, we humans have set a spacefaring goal for ourselves that demands we ensure our health out in space.