SPACE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT EXPERIMENTS

Commercial BioDyn Payload

Objective: Biomedical research offers hope for a variety of medical problems, from diabetes to the replacement of damaged bone and tissues. Bioreactors, which are used to grow cells and tissue cultures, play a major role in such research and production efforts. STS-95 features the flight of a commercial bioreactor for space-based investigations. The experiment is sponsored by NASA's Space Product Development Office of the Microgravity Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Description: The BioDyn Bioreactor is a joint effort among Synthecon, Inc. of Houston, Texas, Space Hardware Optimization Technology, Inc., in Floyd Knobs, Ind., builder of the hardware; and the Consortium for Materials Development in Space, the NASA Commercial Space Center located at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, which provided both technical and research expertise.

The automated BioDyn Bioreactor combines a rotating culture vessel with the ability to collect up to six samples during operation. On STS-95, four major product lines will be supported within the BioDyn project, with one utilizing the BioDyn Bioreactor.

Recombinant Proteins Research

Recombinant or genetically engineered proteins may offer the possibility of reducing or eliminating transplant rejections. Research by Synthecon, Inc. using the BioDyn Bioreactor, will focus on the preliminary process for growing a proprietary recombinant protein that can decrease rejection of transplanted tissue. The cells producing this protein are anchorage dependent, meaning that they must attach to something to grow. Researchers hope the data from this mission will lead to the development of a commercial protein that will aid in prevention of transplant rejection.

Another protein product of commercial interest is a protein which programs cells to die. As a normal part of life, cells -- like people -- grow old and die, and cells that have no further function in the body must be removed. The proteins that regulate this cell death are the target of cell aging investigation, which hopes to use the knowledge for remediation for a variety of geriatric diseases that result from a decline in immune system function.

Microencapsulation Research

Microencapsulation provides the ability to place treatments exactly where needed, offering the opportunity for treatment of diseases such as diabetes. The BioDyn facilities will investigate this powerful technology with an experiment developed by VivoRx, Inc. in Santa Monica, Calif. that focuses on improving the microencapsulating material for the cells that produce insulin in the human body. The improved microencapsulation material and information from this experiment could lead to an implantable treatment for diabetes and avoid the need for daily insulin injections.

Tissue Engineered Heart Patches and Bone Implants Research

In addition, the BioDyn payload includes a tissue engineering investigation. The commercial affiliate, Millenium Biologix, Inc., in Kingston, Ontario, has been conducting bone implant experiments to better understand how synthetic bone can be used to treat bone-related illnesses and bone damaged in accidents. The product of this tissue engineering experiment on STS-95 is space-grown bone implants which could have potential for dental implants, long bone grafts, and coatings for orthopedic implants such as hip replacements.

Another aspect of the tissue engineering program is aimed at eventual development of "heart patches" (cardiomyocytes tissue) to replace damaged heart muscle. Researchers at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, S.C., using the BioDyn hardware, have produced multi-layered patches not achieved in ground-based experiments. On STS-95 the heart patch experiment will test the validity of achieving patches in the centimeter rather than millimeter size range.

Anti-Cancer Products from Plant Cells in Culture Research

The fourth area of exploration by the BioDyn project is production of anti-cancer drugs from plant cells. Hauser Chemical in Boulder, Colo. is interested in anti-cancer compounds derived from soybean cells in culture and will fly the experiment in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Mich.