The GSI Biophysics team, led by Dr. Insa Schroeder under Professor Marco Durante, is partnering with DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine, the University of Applied Sciences Cologne, and start-up Yuri for mission support. Custom hardware for the mini-laboratory has been delivered, and preliminary tests are in progress to verify material performance.
Dr. Schroeder said the project offers a unique chance to investigate brain organoids in sustained microgravity. "It is important to precisely investigate the mechanisms underlying possible neuroplastic changes in the hippocampus of astronauts, which could become a showstopper for long-term missions," she noted.
The miniature incubator, roughly palm-sized, will operate for 14 days aboard the ISS, enabling far longer study times than parabolic flights or suborbital rockets. The work focuses on how microgravity affects neuronal connections vital for memory, learning, and motor skills, and whether neuroprotective compounds can counter potential damage.
Findings could inform cognitive health safeguards for astronauts and advance understanding of conditions like dementia and depression on Earth. Hippocampal organoids, derived from human stem cells, replicate brain structure closely enough to allow detailed preclinical research before animal or human trials.
The Cellbox program, launched by DLR in 2011, supports biological and biomedical research in microgravity using small, incubated chambers. CELLBOX-4 and CELLBOX-5 will host eight German university-led experiments in low Earth orbit in 2026. These missions are funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics.
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GSI Biophysics
Space Medicine Technology and Systems
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