Redwire Corp 3D-printed a meniscus on the International Space Station, the first time a human body part to be 3D-printed in space using human-derived tissues, the US aerospace company said on Thursday.
It serves as a vital proof-of-concept for the company as it pursues ways of leveraging the space environment to create human organs and tissues for transplantation.
Redwire is a front-runner in the effort to 3D-print human tissues in space, while the European Space Agency is also funding its own effort. Space has also been an attractive environment for creating protein crystals for use in pharmaceutical drugs, and start-ups such as Varda Space Industries Inc are hoping to leverage microgravity to better improve drug development.
Photo: NASA / Roscosmos / Reuters
Companies have pioneered 3D printing human organs and tissues on Earth for years, but when printing in the presence of gravity, bioengineers often must either add chemicals to their creations to keep the tissues firm or print the tissues onto matrices or scaffolding to provide structure.
It is easier for viscous materials such as tissue to hold their form in space, making them less complicated to construct without chemicals or scaffolding, Redwire said.
“When you turn off gravity, it creates an environment where you can successfully build tissues and organs,” Redwire chief growth officer Mike Gold said in an interview.
Redwire printed the meniscus — a critical cartilage found in the human knee — using human-derived stem cells and collagen in a specialized 3D bioprinter the company launched to the space station late last year aboard a Northrop Grumman Corp cargo capsule. The company then cultured the meniscus for 14 days in another Redwire facility launched to the space station last year.
The demonstration marks the first time a human body part was 3D-printed in space using human-derived tissues, Redwire said.
The printed meniscus returned to Earth on board a Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) Crew Dragon capsule early on Monday. Since this was a demonstration, Redwire has no plans to transplant the meniscus into an actual knee.
“We’re going to study it, understand the process, and try to build from this to reproduce the success, and not only with the meniscus,” Gold said.
Gold declined to comment on the cost of printing the meniscus.
He said that the company’s plan is to figure out how to make organs like the meniscus in an affordable way and at greater scale.
Redwire chose the meniscus as tears of this tissue are one of the leading causes of orthopedic injury for people in the military.
Redwire recently announced a partnership with Sierra Space Corp to create drugs on a future commercial space station. Redwire would be launching more bioprinting payloads to the International Space Station in November on an upcoming SpaceX cargo mission, with plans to 3D-print cardiovascular tissue.
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