The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine announced that Marjana Tomic-Canic, PhD, Professor of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery and Director of the university’s Wound Healing and Regenerative Medicine Research Program, and her colleagues have sent live human skin cells to space to be included in a regenerative healing research project conducted by life sciences company CUTISS. The skin cells—grown in Dr. Tomic-Canic’s lab—were sent up to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s CRS-27 spacecraft as part of a resupply mission on March 15, 2023. Aboard the space station, researchers will capitalize on the microgravity environment to analyze the impact of space radiation on the live skin cells’ physical and biological properties as well as their ability to heal. Dr. Tomic-Canic hopes that the results may illuminate new opportunities for regenerative therapies in patients with burns and other skin injuries and help researchers further understand the mechanisms behind tissue repair. “[N]o matter what we find, it’s going to be novel and will raise many … new questions, which is what conquering a new frontier is all about,” concluded Dr. Tomic-Canic.
April 29, 2023