Abstract

BioFabrication Facility, Tissue Printing on the International Space Station

Eugene Boland, Chief Scientist, Techshot, Inc.

Techshot is excited to present initial findings from the maiden flight of its BioFabrication Facility operated aboard the ISS after its launch on the SpaceX CRS-18 mission.  The company is exploiting the sustained microgravity effects on bioinks first characterized on June 14, 2016 when it printed the first neonatal heart ventricle in zero gravity using adult human stem cells aboard a parabolic flight aircraft.  For this first technology demonstration flight aboard the ISS, Techshot printed multiple test structures, as well as structural cardiac tissue.  This muscularized tissue could be placed within a patient’s damaged cardiac tissue and be inosculated into the coronary blood flow and regain muscular tone.  These early demonstrations are the precursor for future microgravity whole organ printing investigations.  This 3D bioprinting capability on the ISS will lead to significant commercial advancements in the healthcare industry, while helping mankind explore beyond low Earth orbit.