Cerebral Ageing is an experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts have succeeded in maintaining cultures of cerebral organoids in space for the very first time. The samples returned to Earth in excellent condition to study the effects of the space flight environment. Their analysis has begun and will help push the frontiers of knowledge in biology, particularly in the study of aging.
In November 2023, eighty-four organoids were sent into space aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The project called “Cerebral Ageing,” launched in 2019, was developed by the CNES (CADMOS), the Institut Pasteur, SupBiotech and Bioserve Space Technologies to study brain aging processes at the cellular and molecular levels.
What are cerebral organoids?
Cerebral organoids are “3D structures made up of different types of structured and interacting cells, as is the case for a developing human brain,” adds Miria Ricchetti. This is the first time that cerebral organoids have not only been sent into space, but also successfully cultured there, and some of them returned to Earth alive.
Cerebral organoids developed at the Institut Pasteur
Miria Ricchetti, head of the Molecular Mechanisms of Pathological and Physiological Aging Lab at the Institut Pasteur, is the project’s principal investigator. “Many experiments are carried out on samples – blood for example – from astronauts, explains the researcher. However, it is impossible to study a fragment of human brain, which is why we use cerebral organoids that largely mimic the structure and composition of a developing brain.” This experiment first demonstrates that complex human cultures can be grown in space, and offers the opportunity to grow them over longer periods of time, corresponding to space missions lasting several months.
A unique environment of microgravity and cosmic radiation to study aging
Three astronauts performed the experiment aboard the ISS. The International Space Station provides a unique microgravity and cosmic radiation environment to test whether space conditions interfere with cellular aging processes. Since their return to Earth in December 2023, the organoids have are being analyzed to assess their cellular health, composition and epigenomic changes which are markers of aging.
“Other scientists have sent cerebral organoids to the ISS but without culturing them. We are the first team to have done this. Culturing these human-derived brain structures in space makes a huge difference, and allows us to study the effects of space flight on them alive and in good health,” explains Miria Ricchetti.
The experiment’s success could open up new avenues for research into neurodegenerative processes in other diseases, such as those related to age. The results will help to better understand how aging and associated disorders develop. They will also improve health protocols for astronauts during long-duration missions.
To find out more, read the full CNES article: First cerebral organoids successfully grown in space | CNES
This research is funded by CNES, ESA, Institut Pasteur and SupBiotech, in collaboration with NASA.
It is also supported by the Laboratoire d’Excellence Revive (10-LABX-0073), as part of the France 2030 investment plan.