Nasa has recently announced an innovative experiment aimed at revolutionizing personalized medicine in the context of space exploration. This endeavor is part of a strategic plan to gather crucial scientific data during the upcoming Artemis II mission. The initiative, which is designed to enhance our understanding of human health in space, is encapsulated in the AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response) investigation. This pioneering research will empower NASA to "know before we go," ensuring that astronauts are better protected during their missions to the lunar surface and eventually to Mars.
The AVATAR investigation will utilize organ-on-a-chip devices, also known as organ chips, to study the effects of deep space radiation and microgravity on human health. These sophisticated chips will contain cells sourced from the Artemis II astronauts and will travel alongside the crew on their approximately 10-day journey around the Moon. This unique research, in conjunction with other health studies of the Artemis II astronauts, aims to provide NASA with valuable insights on how to safeguard astronauts as they venture further into space.
“AVATAR is NASA’s visionary tissue chip experiment that will revolutionize the way we conduct science, medicine, and human multi-planetary exploration,” stated Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Each tissue chip is a meticulously crafted sample designed to help us understand the effects of deep space on each human explorer. This will ensure we equip our astronauts with the appropriate medical supplies tailored to their individual needs as we continue our journey back to the Moon and onward to Mars.”
The AVATAR investigation represents a collaborative effort between NASA, various government agencies, and industry partners. By leveraging commercial expertise, this research aims to deepen our understanding of human biology and disease, paving the way for accelerated innovations in personalized healthcare for both astronauts in space and patients on Earth.
Organ chips, often referred to as tissue chips or microphysiological systems, are approximately the size of a USB thumb drive. These devices are instrumental in understanding and predicting how individuals respond to various stressors, including radiation exposure and medical treatments. Essentially, they serve as avatars for human organs, containing living human cells that model the structures and functions of specific regions in human organs like the brain, lungs, heart, pancreas, and liver. Unique in their capability, these chips can replicate organ functions, such as beating like a heart or metabolizing like a liver.
Researchers have begun linking these tissue chips together to simulate how different organs interact, which is crucial for understanding the body’s overall response to stressors or treatments. Currently, human tissue chips are employed by researchers and oncologists to assess how a specific patient’s cancer may react to various drugs or radiation treatments. While the standard milestone for organ chips has been to maintain human cells in a viable state for 30 days, NASA and its research partners are pushing for a minimum longevity of six months to observe diseases and drug therapies over extended periods.
For the Artemis II mission, organ chips will be developed using blood-forming stem and progenitor cells sourced from the bone marrow of the crew members. Bone marrow is particularly sensitive to radiation exposure, making it a focal point for research related to human spaceflight. As the origin of all adult red and white blood cells, understanding how deep space radiation impacts bone marrow is vital. Previous studies indicate that microgravity can adversely affect the development of bone marrow cells, and the Artemis II mission will take astronauts beyond the protective shield of Earth's magnetosphere, making this research even more crucial.
To create the bone marrow organ chips, Artemis II astronauts will first donate platelets to a local healthcare system. The remaining cells will contain a small percentage of bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cells. NASA-funded scientists at Emulate, Inc., the developers of the organ chip technology for AVATAR, will purify these cells using magnetic beads designed to bind specifically to them. The purified cells will then be positioned in the bone marrow chips alongside blood vessel cells and other supporting cells, accurately modeling the structure and function of bone marrow.
“For NASA, organ chips offer critical data for safeguarding astronaut health during deep space missions,” explained Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences division at NASA Headquarters. “As we delve deeper into space and embark on longer missions, astronauts will have limited access to on-site clinical healthcare. Therefore, understanding each astronaut's unique healthcare needs is essential for equipping them with the right supplies for future missions.”
During the Artemis II mission, the organ chips will be housed in a custom payload developed by Space Tango and securely mounted inside the capsule. This battery-powered payload will ensure automated environmental control and media delivery to the organ chips throughout the flight. Following the mission, researchers at Emulate will analyze how spaceflight has affected the bone marrow chips using single-cell RNA sequencing—an advanced technique that allows scientists to measure the changes in thousands of genes within individual cells. This comprehensive analysis will provide a detailed understanding of the effects of spaceflight and deep space radiation on developing blood cells, marking a significant milestone in both space exploration and human health research.
