By: Ray Wu

Dhruv Sareen has started an experiment to see if stem cells grow faster in space. He wants to find a way to grow stem cells faster. He believes that his hypothesis that stem cells grow faster in space is true. Will his research be successful, or will it come with some devastating side effects?

First, what is a stem cell? A stem cell is any type of cell that comes from a multicellular organism, an organism with more than one cell. These cells include bone, red blood, white blood, skin, and every other cell we know.

There is one beneficial reason for this project. Some therapies in the future require more than a billion cells to complete. The gravity of Earth is probably slowing down the cell’s growth. It would be much easier to grow a billion bacteria cells, which take about 4 to 20 minutes to duplicate on Earth.

“I don’t think I would be able to pay whatever it costs now to take a private ride to space,” Sareen said. “At least a part of me in cells can go up!”

The cells for research were sent on a supply ship to bring them to space. A supply ship is what it sounds like. It’s a spacecraft that sends tools and other items to space, usually to give astronomers orbiting Earth more food and water.

“By pushing the boundaries like this, it’s knowledge, and it’s science, and it’s learning,” said Clive Svendsen, an executive director of Cedars-Sinai’s Regenerative Medicine Institute.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the shipment of certain cells to space. One of them is blood cells that come from patients who have blood disorders like diabetes. Some of the other stem cells are still being researched by the FDA and haven’t been approved yet.

“There’s more unknowns in space than there are knowns,” Afshin Beheshti said. “Any new type of experiment is going to shed light on how the body responds to the space environment.”

Sareen is really trying his best to help humanity. He cares for the people who need stem cell therapies in the future. Will this project be successful, or will it be a failed attempt at advancing medicine?