A NASA grant worth 3-point-1 million dollars will fund new space research into brain diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The grant, and 300-thousand dollars in state matching funds, will be used by the National Stem Cell Foundation, headquartered in Louisville. CEO Paula Grisanti said the foundation has funded a study of neurodegeneration aboard the International Space Station for six years.
“We are doing that study with brain organoids, which are small replicas of the brain. You could call it a mini-brain derived from the cells of people who have Parkinson's disease and primary progressive MS.”
Grisanti said they’ll add cells from people with Alzheimer’s on the next three flights to the space station. She said the work is only possible in space:
“When you are looking at a cell under a microscope, it's slightly flattened. When you spin it in a centrifuge to achieve weightlessness, they're behaving differently. This is an ability to see these cells interact and express genes in a way that just is not possible on Earth.”
Grisanti said they’re creating new models of brain diseases they’ll make available to industry and academia for drug discovery and development – and, one day, cures.
** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.
