A company in Cambridgeshire, BiologIC Technologies, is set to develop new methods for making medicines in space.
As per BBC, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) has awarded the company part of a £65 million fund to create and test new technologies aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Research in space, especially in microgravity, allows for more efficient studies on age-related diseases and the potential growth of human organs for transplant.
Richard Vellacott, CEO of BiologIC Technologies, expressed his pride in helping the UK lead in this innovative field.
The renewed focus on space, often called Space Race 2.0, aims to make human life sustainable on other planets.
UKSA’s funding supports various projects to make astronauts more self-sufficient, including BiologIC’s system, which can develop and produce vaccines and gene therapies faster than traditional methods.
The system will be adapted to function in space's unique conditions, such as dealing with microgravity where liquids float.
However, BiologIC’s technology has the potential to produce not only medicines but also food and raw materials, which is crucial on the space-constrained ISS.
Not only this, the experiments will also benefit life on Earth as well, by speeding up research on aging and possibly growing human organs for transplants.
Meanwhile, Libby Jackson from UKSA highlighted the everyday benefits of space technology, such as improvements in mobile phone cameras and satellite communications.
Additionally, the funding announcement was delayed by the general election, and the mission date for BiologIC’s technology to go to space is yet to be set.
