Growing interest for industrial biomedicine on the ISS

The latest annual report from the ISS National Lab highlights the growing interest in industrial biomedicine and tissue production on orbit. Notable participants include Merck & Co., Colgate-Palmolive, LambdaVision, and MicroQuin, all of whom conducted experiments on the ISS in FY2021. NASA shows no signs of slowing down its emphasis in this area, either: their FY2022 solicitations include reserved blocks for NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge, Tissue Engineering & Biomanufacturing, and a Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology. Could this be the killer on-orbit application the space industry has been looking for? Tough to tell... big name involvement from companies like Merck is adding credibility, but we're still a long way from returning full-grown human hearts from orbit.

- The ISS National Lab released its FY2021 annual report highlighting recent experiments, trends, and utilization of the world's most advanced research laboratory

- Industrial biomedicine continues to attract attention from government and commercial programs alike

- Key large-scale commercial players like Merck and Colgate-Palmolive conducted experiments in 2021, though at this stage, the primary interest is research, rather than any type of production

SOURCE: https://www.issnationallab.org/fy2022-annual-report/