Space station bioprinting experiment advances quest for lab-grown tissues, company says

By Nancy Lapid

July 9 (Reuters) - A biotechnology company says it has successfully used its 3D bioprinter aboard the International Space Station to manufacture structures containing human liver, kidney and cartilage cells, a step it believes could ‌eventually aid production of transplantable tissues in orbit.

San Diego-based Auxilium Biotechnologies said a recently completed mission marked the first ‌time liver and kidney tissues have been bioprinted in space. The work was conducted using cells supplied by researchers at Wake Forest University, according to Auxilium ​co-founder Jacob Koffler of the University of California, San Diego.

The experiments focused on an obstacle that has challenged tissue engineers on Earth: controlling the precise distribution of cells within a three-dimensional structure.

If certain types of cells cluster in the wrong places or are unevenly distributed - like blueberries that sink to the bottom of muffin batter - the tissue may not function properly.

In organs, cells are organized in very specific ‌locations. But Earth-bound scientists have yet to find ⁠a method that gives researchers complete control over where the cells are located, Koffler said.

In microgravity, that becomes possible, he added.

Auxilium sent its 3D bioprinter to the space station in 2024. The company's original ⁠goal was to improve its nerve-repair implants, Koffler said. The company has versions of these implants in clinical trials.

Auxilium wanted to be able to distribute drug-containing particles evenly in those implants so regenerating nerves would receive continuous exposure to compounds that promote healing. Because the drug particles ​sink ​under gravity, Auxilium turned to the space station, where microgravity could allow ​more uniform distribution and placement.

In the latest mission, ‌Auxilium sent bio-inks to space that would expand its capabilities to tissue printing, Koffler said.

Watching from Earth via cameras on the space station, Koffler's team was able to upload new instructions to the printer as necessary.

The liver and kidney tissues created on the ISS returned to Earth about two weeks ago and are being analyzed, he said.

"The uniform cell distribution achieved aboard the space station points to real possibilities for manufacturing medical devices and tissues in space," said Dr. Anthony Atala, of the Wake Forest Institute for ‌Regenerative Medicine, whose team provided the liver and kidney cells.

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The printed structures are not functioning organs. Before scientists attempt to ​create entire replacement organs through bioprinting, Koffler expects the field ​will focus on smaller tissue patches that could help repair damaged organs, such as the liver.

The ‌work also highlights growing interest in commercial manufacturing in ​space as NASA prepares for the ​eventual retirement of the International Space Station. Auxilium has signed agreements with companies developing commercial space stations and other orbital platforms intended to succeed the ISS, Koffler said.

Medical products manufactured in space remain years from clinical use. Regulatory pathways ​are only beginning to take shape, Koffler said, ‌adding that he had participated in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration workshop on space biomanufacturing earlier this ​year.

"It's going to take some years until we get to the clinic," he said. "But it's important to start ​building that framework now."

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)