Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Treatment for organ- and tissue-loss problems due to diseases and accidents create up to 400 billion CHFs of excess costs per year worldwide. Because of tremendous shortages of the various tissues and organs for transplantation, researchers are looking for alternative tissue sources.
In vitro tissue engineering technologies are very promising sources. 3D cell growth is achieved in microgravity cultures, in which cells are able to form complex structures in a much faster manner. This has already been successfully demonstrated for heart cells, cartilage and nerve regeneration.
Results from fundamental and applied research in microgravity can be applied to on ground 3D cell culture bioreactors.