Autonomous Cell Culture Apparatus for Growing 3-Dimensional Tissues in Microgravity

The objective of this project is to develop, test, and verify the functionality of a fully automated cell culture apparatus that will allow for the growth of three-dimensional (3-D) cultures in microgravity. The development of a fully automated 3-D cell culture apparatus for microgravity is important because these 3-D cell cultures can be used to accurately model fully differentiated normal human tissue for the study of the effects of radiation and other non-radiation space environment stressors on multiple biological processes. Additionally, the 3-D organotypic cultures can provide a realistic model for the evaluation of countermeasures such as drug delivery. The long-term objective of this work is to develop an automated cell culture apparatus that can be used to efficiently study the growth of 3-D cell cultures aboard the International Space Station. More »