Why space
Space disease modeling reveals hidden biological mechanisms by leveraging microgravity, enabling key disease pathways specific testing and breakthrough discoveries unattainable on Earth.
Redefining Drug Discovery: Unlocking Breakthroughs in-Orbit
Enhanced disease modeling in space revolutionizes drug development by revealing key molecular mechanisms that traditional models fail to capture, leading to more effective and targeted therapies. By enabling specific testing of disease pathways, it allows scientists to identify novel drug targets at early stages, significantly reducing failure rates in clinical trials.
This deeper molecular understanding helps uncover previously hidden biomarkers, improving diagnostics and personalized medicine. With high-throughput screening in microgravity, drug efficacy and resistance can be tested in a more physiologically relevant environment, accelerating innovation. Ultimately, this approach leads to faster drug discovery, better treatments, and improved disease management, transforming human health worldwide.
Space research provides unparalleled opportunities for scientific advancements beyond Earth's constraints
Disease Modeling in Space: The Advantages
Applications in drug development
Microgravity effects
Accelerated Cellular Senescence
Enhanced development of aging molecular patterns
Aging
Identify and treat early aging molecular processes with repercussions in neurodegeneration
immune
Development of modulators to overcome autoimmune diseases, or enable immunotherapy in the context of cancer
Altered immune responses
Reported immune dysregulation
Neuro-
degeneration
Identification of key therapeutic drugs targeting neuronal regeneration using stem cell technology
Faster Neuronal Development
Accelerated neurodegeneration patterns formation
cancer
Development of molecules to overcome drug resistance, or effectively manage aggressive tumors
Altered aggressiveness
Reported high drug resistance
Case study: Orbital oncology
Specific advantages of cancer testing in space
Advantages for drug discovery
Effect observed
2020 Stem Cells Transl Med
Accelerated Growth
Effective growth inactivator drugs
Shorter testing timelines
2024 Int J Mol Sci
Altered Drug Resistance
Identify HITS that overcome drug resistance
Identify and target molecular pathways involved
2019 Nat Sci Rep
Increased Aggressiveness
Drugs tailored for aggressive cancer
Isolation of key molecular mechanisms for new therapy
2021 Stem Cells Int.
Enhanced Metastasis Potential
Treatment development for distant metastasis
Molecular target identification for late-stage tumors