Innovative Infectious Disease Research on ISS

Microgravity research may provide an opportunity to identify novel targets for vaccine development and the Nickerson team, in collaboration with Roy Curtiss, director of the Biodesign Institute's Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology has been working toward this goal. 

Based on previous findings, the scientists hypothesized that results from microgravity experiments might be used to facilitate vaccine development on Earth.

Performing sensitive biological experiments is always a delicate affair.

Few researchers, however, contend with the challenges faced by Cheryl Nickerson, whose working laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is located hundreds of miles above the Earth, traveling at some 17,000 miles per hour.

Nickerson, a microbiologist at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, is using the ISS platform to pursue new research into the effects of microgravity on disease-causing organisms.

Nickerson presented her research findings and charted the course for future investigations aboard the ISS on February 18 at the 2013 annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Boston, Mass.

Her talk, entitled "Microgravity: A Novel Tool for Advances in Biomedical Research," is part of a special session devoted to ISS science.

"One important focus of my research is to use the microgravity environment of spaceflight as an innovative biomedical research platform. We seek to unveil novel cellular and molecular mechanisms related to infectious disease progression that cannot be observed here on Earth, and to translate our findings to novel strategies for treatment and prevention."

For NASA, Nickerson's findings were revelatory, given their implications for the health of astronauts on extended spaceflight missions.

Already faced with the potential for compromised immunity induced by the rigors of space travel, astronauts may have to further contend with the threat of disease-causing microbes with amped-up infectious abilities.

A more thorough understanding of infectious processes and host responses under these conditions is therefore vital for the design of therapeutics and other methods of limiting vulnerability for those on space missions.