Insight Innovation: Laboratories in space: weightlessness is revolutionizing research

Dusseldorf Growing organs from stem cells in space sounds like a weird vision of the future. But numerous scientists are working very intensively and seriously on it. Cells can develop better and faster in weightlessness.

Pioneers in this field are the Germans Oliver Ullrich and Cora Thiel from the University of Zurich. On the International Space Station (ISS), the doctor and the microbiologist grow cell groups, so-called organoids. “They couldn’t grow on earth without a skeleton,” says Ullrich.

Organoids are of great interest to pharmaceutical companies. They can test active ingredients and drugs much more effectively on human tissue than on animals. Tissue for damaged organs could also grow from the cells, or even entire organs. “In the future, you can grow your heart in space,” said Mark Kugel, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Yuri, a space and biotechnology start-up.