Research - Investigator Profiles
BSO investigators are located around the United States and represent a diverse range of disciplines:
- Bacteriology
- Virology
- Cancer Biology
- Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Radiation Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Endocrinology
- Hematology
- Immunology
- Medical Oncology
- Metabolism and Nutrition
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Gastrointestinal Physiology
- Musculoskeletal Physiology
- Pulmonary Physiology
- Neurophysiology
- Plant Physiology/Botany
- Pharmacology
- Transplantation
- Bioreactor Development
- Gene Transfer
- Sensors
Funded Research
NASA currently funds 55 cell biology/biotechnology extramural investigators and offers 4 biotechnology cell science grant opportunities through NASA Research Announcements (NRAs). NASA also funds related research through the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a consortium of universities formed in 1997.
BSO also has a team of NASA scientists and engineers, including contractors, who conduct research and development at Johnson Space Center and nearby facilities.
In 1994, NASA formed a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health to form the NASA/NIH Center for Three-Dimensional Tissue Culture. BSO also collaborates with others interested in exploring bioreactor and space cell biology applications, including:
- The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation signed a Space Act Agreement in 1997 to investigate the best routes for cultivating and transplanting beta cells into Type I diabetics and to develop a non-invasive blood sugar monitor.
- VivoRx, through a Technology Transfer Act Agreement, is developing a method of encapsulating beta cells in treated seaweed membranes for implant in the abdomen of Type I diabetics. The ground-based bioreactor is being used to develop methods to expand the small numbers of cells available from donors to supply the large numbers of cells needed by diabetics.
- Viragen, is investigating the use of ground bioreactors for the production of interferon through a Space Act Agreement signed in 2000.
- StelSys LLC, a joint partnership between Fisk Ventures, Inc. and In Vitro Technologies, Inc., signed a Space Act Agreement in 2000 focusing on infectious disease research and liver assist devices. Stelsys flew a liver cell research experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) during mission 8A in 2002.
To learn more about ways to work with NASA, see Collaborate.
NASA is dedicated to turning space research into Earth benefits through technology transfer. To date, our bioreactor and cell culturing processes have yielded 20 patents, with 5 more pending. Recent patents include:
- SYNTHECON, Inc., was granted an exclusive license in 2001 to produce recombinant human protein drugs in the Rotary Cell Culture System (RCCS). See the Slow Turning Lateral Vessel for more details. SYNTHECON also manufactures the NASA-designed RCCS. More than 5000 units of the bioreactor have been sold worldwide.
- Celdyne Corporation is licensed to manufacture and market the NASA-designed Hydrodynamic Focusing Bioreactor.
Our microencapsulation program has yielded 3 patents and 3 more are pending. Our cancer cell testing has produced 1 patent and 2 disclosures are pending.
Publications
Since 1995, our scientists have published more than 300 papers and abstracts for publications and presentations, including published findings in the engineering of cartilage and cardiac muscle, tumor models that provide new strategies for drug development, understanding the genetics of the cellular response to microgravity, elucidating the pathology of diseases like HIV and Lyme disease, and propagation of tissue heretofore unavailable to the research community.
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