Space-based Research May Lead To Cancer 'Kill Switch'

An anonymous reader shares a report: With progress in the battle against cancer progressing slowly on Earth, California researchers have teamed up with astronauts to take the battle to the stars. In space, the weak pull of gravity, also known as microgravity, places cells under incredible stress, causing them to age more rapidly. This phenomenon allows scientists to witness the progression of cancer growth -- and the effect of cancer treatments -- much more rapidly than they could on Earth.

When the Axiom 3 spaceflight launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 18, bound for the International Space Station, it took with it four crewmembers and some other unusual passengers -- miniature tumor organoids produced from the cells of cancer patients, grown in the lab by scientists at the University of California San Diego. Axiom 3 was slated for splashdown on Saturday but has been delayed until Tuesday, at the earliest, due to weather, according to SpaceX, which manufactured the Crew Dragon spacecraft used for the mission.

It wasn't the first time the team -- led by Dr. Catriona H.M. Jamieson, a hematologist and medical professor at the college -- sent such samples into space. It previously launched stem cells on multiple Space X flights and noticed that pre-leukemic changes occurred, unseen during the same timeframe in controls on the ground. "We said, 'Wait, what if you send cancer up?'" Jamieson tells Fortune. "'Will the cancer go from bad to worse?' And the answer is yes, under conditions of stress" caused by microgravity.

May

[groobly]

It may. It has permission. Don't hold your breath.

Re:

[IllIlIllIlIlIIIlIlIl]

There was a MacGyver episode about this. The chick who smuggled Dutch elm disease in to the US in her dog's bladder saved some very potent bacterium that had mutated in space. It caused rapid, advanced aging. Think of all the possibilities if they studied it, she thought. But in the end, I think it was the dog that knocked the petri dish out of her hand, and she was dead of old age within minutes. It had those Andromedra Strain vibes. In fact, Henry Winkler tended to rip off a lot of story lines like that.

Re:

[IllIlIllIlIlIIIlIlIl]

Thanks for that link. I thought I was making up stuff like rsilvergun. Glad that my memory going back to the late '80s is actually this good.

SR Hadden is going to be disappointed to see this

[kalieaire]

.. if he he were still alive.

In Contact (1997) S.R. Hadden went to MIR for the low oxygen microgravity environment which supposedly would cause his cancer to progress more slowly.

He was dead within 96hrs.

What are cancer rates for astronauts?

[kencurry]

should be "sky high" according to this story. Editors?

Re:

[davepander]

I thought the same thing! It's almost like they wanted fear of aging to be the click bait. I knew about radiation causing stress (we all know that), but micro gravity? That was supposed to fun!

Another Potential

[bill_mcgonigle]

This protocol has some interesting science behind it:

https://veryvirology.substack.... [substack.com]

TL;DR - head off all four cancer pathways at the same time with repurposed drugs.

Re:

[christoban]

That dude you link to sounds like a fucking crackpot.

Re:

[Pascoea]

Yeah, that's 15 minutes (and a whole shitload of braincells) that I'm never getting back.

In case anyone else gets the interest in diving into that shitshow I'll give you the gist: Ivermectin, Fenbendazole, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Ascorbic Acid are the cure for all cancers. There ya have it folks, some unknown dude with some loud political opinions has the cure for cancer. Two anti-parasitic drugs, baking soda, and vitamin c.

My favorite line: "A suggested protocol, with several important caveats, is incl

Re:

[kackle]

Yeah, that's 15 minutes (and a whole shitload of braincells) that I'm never getting back.

You can, with Ivermectin, Fenbendazole, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Ascorbic Acid.

Re:

[Pascoea]

I didn't pay to read the dude's protocol or caveats, so for all I know those may cure traumatic brain injury too.

But before microgravity

[WormholeFiend]

the cancer is exposed to some extreme high Gs... I hope that's accounted for in the research.

BS

[methano]

I think this is probably BS. With all the other shit going on with sending something into space, attributing interesting findings to microgravity seems specious. I'm not gonna start smoking again based on this exciting research.

Re: BS

[guruevi]

It is a way for your research to get media attention which is all that counts these days.

On the scales of petridishes you can simulate micro- and zero-gravity with a small electro motor and a undergrad student project from the mechanical engineering department.

Re:

[gweihir]

I think this quite likely works. But keep in mind that cancer has been an exceptionally hard target. This is not about finding a cure for many cases. This is about bringing the pretty bad death rates down a bit and anything helps. Hence definitely do not start smoking again.

It is sad

[simlox]

that we need all those excuses to keep manned spaceflight. Just admit it: ISS is simply not worth it in science. It is just there to keep manned spaceflight alive, until someone (Elon?) actually starts to send people to Mars - which also barely have ant scientific significance.

What would be the mechanism?

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

Any given cell is basically floating in water, right? My bones have mechanical loads under 1g, but how would anything else be different?

Re:

[ceoyoyo]

Here's her paper:

https://www.biorxiv.org/conten... [biorxiv.org]

Warning, it's written in the conversational style physicians like. The "Results" are really methods and results stirred and shaken and there's lots and lots of speculation.

The motivation seems to be the NASA twins study where they noticed gene expression differences in astronaut twins, one of whom went to the ISS and the other stayed on the ground. Doing the same experiment with cell cultures is a reasonable thing to do, and it's interesting that the culture