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Cosmonauts Nikolay Tikhonov and Andrey Babkin mastering 3D-bioprinting

ISS-63 prime crewmembers cosmonauts Nikolay Tikhonov and Andrey Babkin are undergoing preflight training in all spheres. Beside training on the Soyuz MS and the International Space Station Russian segment simulators, the cosmonauts are taking part in practical sessions by the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center scientific specialists.

On February 11, 2020, Roscosmos cosmonauts got acquainted with the Organ.Avt 3D-bioprinter – the same is at the ISS. The printer was delivered to the station onboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft on December 3, 2018, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko was the first to test it. He printed human cartilaginous tissue, as well as mice thyroid; the experiment was a success and is now going on.

The main aim of the experiment is to test the new process of biofabrication (artificial manufacturing of living organs) of 3D tissue structures under zero-g conditions. All the existing bioprinters are working according to the additive technology. While in space, a completely different approach is available – formation manufacturing of tissues and organoids.

‘The equipment we got acquainted with allows working with any biological material – the main thing is that these fillers were magnetic dependent, and the magnetic trap made it gather together, forming cell associations. We still have a limited possibility of structuring. At the ISS, the microgravity conditions provide greater freedom, the cells have no gravity impact – that’s why another dimension is added, allowing the so called bioink gather into 3D-structures.’ Babkin said.

During the magnetic 3D-bioprinting experiment, the flesh samples of cow cells, rabbit and fish were printed. What's unique about the experiment is that not only it is conducted under microgravity conditions, but also the technology specifics, which doesn’t involve using natural resources. In the future, this equipment might be used in the medical field – for orthotics, vessel printing, organ elements recovering.

According to Roscosmos, the magnetic bioprinters will allow creating radiation-sensitive organoids under microgravity conditions. The experiment results will be used to continue exploring the possibility to create more complex anatomic structures and develop space radiation protection systems for lengthy spaceflights.

The project was implemented with participation of Roscosmos, 3D Bioprinting Solutions laboratory and Invitro company.