First article on the benefits of the Space research and why we need it, today.
In the last two years also the most skeptical suddenly found out how import the medical research can be. We found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic and we needed an effective solution as fast as possible. But did you know that researching in Space helps the whole process and make us discover new treatments that would never be possible on Earth?
If you are reading this, probably you already knew, but let’s see a more specific case for today!
Proteins are involved in every aspect of our lives, including as essential components of our immune system and as part of viruses that
can make us sick. When we take a medication, it binds to a specific protein in the body. This process changes the protein’s function – and if it works properly, makes us well.
Muscular dystrophy and cancer are among the most common diseases of these days and problems related to protein synthesis are some of their causes.
Since the very first flight of the Space Shuttle and the beginning of the Mir Program, scientists discovered that proteins produced in microgravity conditions had a peculiarity with respect to the ones produced here on Earth: the were better in quality. Yes, you read it right: quality was higher. By simplifying a lot, one of the reasons why microgravity helps in the crystallization process of proteins is that there is no more preferred direction in the building of the crystals. While on Earth gravity gives the ‘downward’ direction to basically everything we try to build, in the conditions of the International Space Station, this influence is no more present and all the faces of the crystals are built evenly.
Only in 2021, more than 500 protein crystal growth experiments have been conducted by drug companies and academic researchers.
PCG research from many countries is showing promise for creating medications and treatments for a variety of diseases, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a currently incurable genetic disorder. A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) study of the crystal structure of the protein associated with DMD provided hints for compounds that could inhibit it.
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