Authors: E. Russell Vickers, Haitao Wen.
Significant deterioration of organs and tissues occurs in astronauts as a result of cosmic radiation exposure. This is a major obstacle to the developing space industry involving extended space exploration, commercial asteroid mining and the colonization of Earth’s moon and Mars. Cosmic radiation includes galactic cosmic rays, and solar particle events of x-rays and gamma rays that penetrate deeply inducing DNA damage. Potential medical issues for astronauts arising from radiation include cancer, rapid aging, sterility, impaired immune system, re-emergence of pathogenic viruses, neurodegeneration and memory impairment. In summary, there are potentially catastrophic consequences for space personnel from prolonged exposure to radiation. Upregulating the regeneration of tissue using advances in stem cell technology would be a plausible method to counteract radiation damage triggering cellular degeneration. Stem cells are ‘survival’ cells and are responsible for the ongoing repair and regeneration of the human body. Increasing the number of available stem cells improves the regenerative capacity of the body. Current stem cell technology is not possible in space, as it requires multiple medical specialists using major hospital surgical and laboratory equipment. The authors have developed a portable stem cell biotechnology kit that is compact, lightweight, and simple to operate and could be performed by astronauts in space on a frequent basis to potentially regenerate affected tissue and reverse the effects of cosmic radiation. The technology uses laboratory validated peptide hydrogels for stem cell migration and expansion. The astronaut only requires donating a small amount of blood or adipose tissue. Preliminary analysis showed stem cells have high yield, excellent cell viability, and demonstrate normal stem cell health parameters of autophagy and annexin V. This approach may help to balance the degeneration / regeneration cycle of the body subject to radiation. Space personnel can be trained in a short period of time to perform the technology with safety and efficacy.
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