ISS Crew Bioprints Cartilage Tissue in Microgravity

Printing Cartilage Where Gravity Does Not Apply

Expedition 75 crewmates Jessica Meir of NASA and Sophie Adenot of ESA spent Tuesday inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module, loading cartilage cell samples into the Auxilium bioprinter.

The goal is to print tissue in microgravity that is structurally superior to the same work done on Earth. Without gravity pulling cells downward, the bioprinted layers form more cleanly, producing tissue with better organization and mechanical properties. That could eventually lead to personalized implants grown from a patient's own cells.

Why Cartilage Matters

Cartilage is one of the hardest tissues to repair. It does not heal on its own once damaged, and current treatments rely on donor tissue or metal/plastic implants that wear out. If bioprinting can produce viable cartilage grafts in orbit, the technique could translate into better joint repairs and osteoarthritis treatments on Earth.

The MERLIN research incubator kept the cell samples stable before printing. The actual bioprinting sessions ran inside the Life Science Glovebox, a sealed workspace that contains any potential contamination. The crew can also run the printer remotely from the ground, which matters for longer missions where crew time is scarce.

Soldering in Space, Too

While Meir and Adenot worked with the bioprinter, NASA flight engineer Anil Menon ran a parallel lead-free soldering experiment in the Harmony module. He soldered circuit board components to demonstrate that electronics can be manufactured and repaired in orbit.

The space-soldered samples will return to Earth for comparison against identical ground controls. If the results hold, future spacecraft could carry fewer spare parts and instead manufacture replacements on demand.

The Bigger Picture

These experiments are small steps, but they point in the same direction. The ISS is testing the building blocks of on-demand manufacturing in space: biological tissue today, electronics tomorrow. Reduce reliance on resupply missions, and deep space missions become a lot more feasible.

The cartilage bioprinting is not ready for clinic use. It is a research demonstration. But the fact that it works better in microgravity than on Earth is exactly the kind of finding that makes the ISS worth keeping.