URSC (Unified Rocket and Space Corporation, a member of ROSCOSMOS State Corporation) has entered into a cooperation agreement with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, a resident company of Skolkovo Center of Innovations, aiming to create a unique bioprinter capable of magnetic biofabrication of tissue and organ constructs in zero-gravity at the International Space Station (ISS).

It was signed by the URSC General Director Yuri Vlasov and Mikhail Bakanov, General Director of 3D Bioprinting Solutions. Research will be supervised by Professor Vladimir Mironov, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of 3D Bioprinting Solutions.

The creation of a magnetic bioprinter will allow printing tissues and organ constructs in outer space, which will be supersensitive to space radiation - sentinel organs (for example thyroid gland) for biomonitoring of negative effects of space radiation during long-term exposure and developing relevant preventive measures.

In the long run the technology of magnetic 3D bioprinting can be used for healing of damaged tissues and organs of astronauts during long space flights. On Earth it could be used for faster bioprinting of human tissue and organs.

The bioprinter is scheduled to be ready for transportation to the ISS by 2018. All preparatory work and experiments will be performed in close cooperation with Rocket and Space Corporation Energia and Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Yuri Vlasov, URSC General Director: "The creation of a portable bioprinter for study of the effects of cosmic rays on human organs and tissues, in the long run creating a possibility of printing organs during manned flights in outer space, bringing us one step closer to the era of human mastery over distant planets."

Yusef D Khesuani, managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions: "Bioprinting in zero-gravity at ISS opens up unique possibilities and will allow using a fundamentally new approach to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine."

Source: 3D Bioprinting Solutions

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