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Mayo Clinic research in space could produce new insights on bone loss

The experiment, which launched from Florida on a cargo vessel Tuesday, Jan. 30, will be observed on the International Space Station for a month before returning to Earth.

Mayo Clinic Dr. Abba Zubair Stem Cells.jpg
Dr. Abba Zubair, a pathologist and medical director of Transfusion Medicine & Stem Cell Therapy and Mayo Clinic in Florida, works in his lab. An experiment from his lab is currently being studied in space.
Contributed / Mayo Clinic

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Tuesday, Jan. 30, Dr. Abba Zubair spent his day at an atypical place for a medical doctor: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

"It was quite fun to see the launch of the rocket," Zubair said. "The weather (was) perfect."

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Zubair, a pathologist and medical director of Transfusion Medicine & Stem Cell Therapy and Mayo Clinic in Florida, was there to see his lab's latest experiment take off. The experiment is among the 8,200 pounds of cargo aboard the Cygnus spacecraft, which will arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday, Feb. 1.

"This research that went up is really to look at how absence of gravity ... affects bone formation or bone loss, and how the bones' cells interact with each other," Zubair said.

Bone loss is a medical problem on Earth and in space, Zubair said. On Earth, people with certain types of cancer, those who are bedridden for a long time and postmenopausal women can lose bone density. But astronauts who spend months stationed at the ISS also lose some bone density, something Zubair said is a "major issue" for future missions to Mars.

To study how bone density is affected by zero gravity, the experiment from Zubair's lab contains mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and create bone and other tissues. Zubair said they partnered with Bioserve Space Technologies in Colorado to create the hardware needed for this in-space observation.

"You cannot use the regular hardware that we use in our research lab," Zubair said. "Liquids, they don't mix well in space; if you try to mix two liquids, they just sit side-by-side. So how you feed the cells, how you introduce reagents or compounds would be different in space."

The stem cells will be observed for one month aboard the ISS, with crew members interacting with the experiment and gathering some data. A significant part of preparing for this experiment, Zubair said, was creating clear instructions for the astronauts.

"The project is one of the most intensive," Zubair said. "In some of the phases of the experiment, it will take two astronauts the whole day to implement the task for that day."

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When the experiment is over, the stem cells (and the liquid media they're floating in) are preserved in a cryogenic freezer awaiting a return trip to Earth. When the experiment splashes down, Zubair's research team will then collect more data.

Zubair said he anticipates that the experiment will return to Earth within a month or two of completion, but that is not set in stone.

"Those samples that we will collect can be kept for months to even a year," Zubair said. "Basically, it depends on the next available slot to put in the rocket to bring back."

The experiment currently en route to the ISS is the first part of two for Zubair's research. He said the second part is slated to be sent to the ISS in late 2024, and that experiment will look at how the absence of gravity affects other types of cells that play a role in bone formation and loss.

"Other cells that play a role in bone formation and bone loss ... osteoclasts, osteocytes and osteoblasts, (we'll) study them, see how they interact," Zubair said.

It's not the first time Zubair has sent his research to space. He first got the opportunity to send his stem cell research to the ISS in 2017, but his interest in space exploration goes back to his childhood.

"I wanted to be an astronaut, and clearly that is a far-fetched dream from somebody from Nigeria, West Africa, where there's just a lot of poverty, and obviously they don't have a space program," Zubair said. "To have my projects and things that I created in my lab ... and then see it taking off to ISS, it gives me goosebumps. And knowing that what we are doing is something that would have a major impact on humanity ... I think it's just so rewarding."

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Dené K. Dryden is the Post Bulletin's health reporter. Readers can reach Dené at 507-281-7488 and ddryden@postbulletin.com.
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