An anonymous reader shared a report. While progress in the fight against cancer on Earth is slow, researchers in California are teaming up with astronauts to take the fight to the stars. In space, the weak gravity, also known as microgravity, puts cells under incredible stress and accelerates cellular aging. This phenomenon allows scientists to observe the progression of cancer growth and the effectiveness of cancer treatments much earlier than they can observe on Earth.
When the Axiom 3 spaceflight launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the International Space Station on January 18, it was accompanied by a crew of four and several other unusual passengers. Cancer patients grown in the lab by scientists at the University of California, San Diego. SpaceX, which built the Crew Dragon spacecraft used for the mission, said Axiom 3 was scheduled to splash down on Saturday, but weather conditions delayed it until Tuesday at the earliest.
This wasn't the first time the team, led by Dr. Catriona H.M. Jamieson, a hematologist and professor of medicine at the university, had sent such a sample into space. Previously, when SpaceX launched stem cells on multiple flights, ground control noticed pre-leukemia changes occurring that weren't seen in the same time frame. “We said, 'Wait a minute, what if we send cancer?'” Jamison told Fortune. “'Will cancer get worse?' And the answer is, 'Yes, under stress conditions caused by microgravity.'
