Manufacturing Nanomaterials in Space to Treat Disease on Earth

Researchers to launch a new project leveraging the ISS National Lab to Improve Nanomaterial Production for Future Osteoarthritis and Cancer Treatments

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., April 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers from the University of Connecticut and Eascra Biotech are producing innovative nanomaterials in space to improve treatments for osteoarthritis and cancer in patients on Earth. The team's groundbreaking research is featured in the most recent issue of Upward, official magazine of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. The latest in the team's series of ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations is launching to the orbiting outpost on SpaceX's 32nd resupply mission for NASA.

Janus base nanomaterials (JBNs), developed by University of Connecticut associate professor Yupeng Chen and his team, are composed of synthetic molecules that self-assemble into structures resembling human DNA. JBNs could provide life-changing treatment for the nearly 33 million Americans with osteoarthritis, a condition in which joint cartilage breaks down over time, causing painful inflammation. The injectable nanomaterials help regenerate lost cartilage, allowing patients to avoid painful and costly joint replacement surgery. JBNs could also be used in precision cancer treatment to carry drugs into hard-to-penetrate solid tumors that are difficult to treat.

To advance JBNs to commercial products, Chen and his colleague, Mari Anne Snow, formed the spinoff company Eascra Biotech. However, during JBN production on Earth, gravity-driven forces like convection cause the molecules to aggregate in some places as they bond together. This reduces the uniformity of the nanomaterials, resulting in defects that affect their quality.

In partnership with Axiom Space, the team leveraged the ISS National Lab to test the production of JBNs in space, where gravity-driven forces are greatly reduced. Results showed that in-space production significantly improves the structure of the JBNs and increases their uniformity, which leads to better patient outcomes.

In the Upward article, Chen says, "We have refined our production procedure and verified that our nanomaterials can be better produced in microgravity, and we achieve not only better uniformity but also better bioactivity."

The team is now optimizing its in-space production procedures and is developing an automated system to scale up space-based JBN manufacturing on future platforms in low Earth orbit. In Upward, Snow says, "Our goal every single flight is to get closer to being production-ready and to optimize the formulation for commercialization."

The project launching on the next mission to the space station includes 140 samples that will remain in orbit for approximately four weeks before returning to Earth for analysis. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than April 21, 2025, at 4:15 a.m., from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

For additional information on ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations launching on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, visit our launch page. To learn more about the research and technology development sponsored by the ISS National Lab, including how to propose concepts for future space-based research, visit our website.

Download a high-resolution image for this release: Astronauts Producing JBNs

About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory:
The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative Agreement with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CASIS accepts corporate and individual donations to help advance science in space for the benefit of humanity. For more information, visit our donations page.

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SOURCE International Space Station National Lab