New Parts for People: Artificial Bone from European Space Agency
/The future of medicine is here. We’re proud to say that it looks a lot like what we envisioned.
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently created a website showcasing 99 technological breakthroughs that offer incredible promise for future space travelers. The site includes a fascinating array of creations, from simulated moondust to glowing plants.
Growing bone. Credits: University hospital of Dresden Technical university
What caught our attention was the 3D bioprinted bone. Scientists at the ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) artificially produced a piece of bone to test new bioprinting techniques. The point of the work was to find ways to give astronauts on extended missions access to what the agency’s website calls “spare parts” needed for bone or skin grafts, and even complete internal organs.
Finding a way to produce these spare parts is necessary because deep-space flights will not be able to access donated bone or tissue to treat injured astronauts. And bioprinting a bone is particularly appropriate. Astronauts in zero or low gravity lose bone density, so they are more likely to experience fractures in orbit or on Mars.
This is the kind of breakthrough we imagined when we developed the seven strategies that guide Methuselah Foundation investments, planning and policies.
In particular, the ESA’s bioprinted bone is an example of “new parts for people,” a strategy focused on technologies to create replacement parts of our bodies, including organs, cartilage, bones and vasculature. We envision a day when making replacement biological parts will be as easy as replacing parts in a modern car.
We came up with the seven strategies because there is no single solution that will lengthen the healthy human lifespan. It will take a combination of things to help us reach our goal of making 90 the new 50 by 2030.
The new parts for people strategy has led us get involved in several projects, including the NASA-Methuselah Foundation Vascular Tissue Challenge, which recently honored two teams that bioprinted human liver tissues in the lab; New Organ Alliance, whose mission was to help overcome the organ shortage that impedes transplantation; Organovo, a company working on ways to 3D bioprint tissues that mimic key aspects of human biology and disease for use in drug discovery and development; Volumetric, a company that manufacturers bioprinters, and X-Therma, a biotechnology company developing breakthroughs for regenerative medicine and organ preservation.
It is exciting to see these groups – and others around the world – bring to life what we imagined to be possible. Continued collaboration will enable us to live longer and healthier lives.
Join us to bring this dream to life. Donate to Methuselah Foundation.