Tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting, tissue chips, and biosensors could advance biomedical research in space. This is the conclusion of a review article by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in "Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology" (DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2026.1915463). The technologies are intended to help investigate the physiological consequences of microgravity, radiation, and isolation under the tight mass, volume, and time constraints of orbital missions.
Longer stays in space change the body: bone mass and musculature decrease, the cardiovascular system changes, and the immune system becomes unbalanced. Added to this are risks from galactic cosmic radiation and solar proton events, as well as neurobehavioral stresses from isolation. Animal and human studies in space are expensive and logistically complex, so bioengineered model systems offer an alternative.
According to the authors, tissue engineering and organoids derived from human stem cells provide human-relevant models. The lack of sedimentation in microgravity enables more uniform, complex multicellular structures. Challenges remained vascularization and long-term functional stability. In 3D bioprinting, space conditions reduce the collapse of constructs and sedimentation-related defects; the BioFabrication Facility on the ISS has already demonstrated tissue printing in flight. However, mechanical equivalence to native tissue and photopolymerization-based methods are still under development. Tissue chips offer a space-saving, human-specific alternative and are used for organ systems from heart and skeletal muscle to the blood-brain barrier, including for disease models and radiation protection tests. Biosensors enable real-time in-situ data acquisition, reducing dependence on crew time and sample return.
The authors see the technologies on the path to unified, autonomous platforms for tissue manufacturing, culture, and monitoring. They discuss the current status, limitations, and future directions, emphasizing the opportunities for integration for astronaut health and regenerative medicine on Earth. The regulatory aspect is: According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the launching state retains control over payloads, so terrestrial rules also apply to experiments conducted in orbit.
