A British company has begun unique, exceptional and unprecedented research in outer space, sending a specialized laboratory beyond Earth. However, the goal has nothing to do with space and space missions, but rather an attempt to conduct studies and research aimed at finding a way to extend human lifespan.

The British startup says it has recently begun conducting self-operating chemical experiments in outer space to find a way to eliminate aging and extend human life.

The secret to conducting these research in space and outside Earth is to take advantage of the microgravity environment, enabling scientists to shed light on a set of disease-causing proteins that are difficult to study on Earth.

Video Player is loading.

Current Time 0:00

Duration 2:00

Loaded: 0.00%

Remaining Time 2:00

A report published by Wired and reviewed by Al Arabiya Net said that this research is conducted through a device that operates autonomously and automatically without humans, a device developed by the British company Mass Balance, and its size is similar to that of a grapefruit. It was recently sent aboard a cargo spacecraft belonging to SpaceX.

The report says: 'The British company behind the project must first verify that its independent laboratory will work efficiently in space.'

The device contains chemicals, sensors, and control elements to ensure the chemicals continue to work. It is placed inside a capsule 10 centimeters (4 inches) long designed by the Austrian company Tumble Weed.

The experiment will orbit Earth for a few months, automatically measuring and sending data on how living cells grow, interact, and perform their functions in low gravity.

This test is the first for a system that the company says will provide high-quality data that is impossible to obtain on Earth; stronger gravity causes phenomena such as 'convection' (heat transfer) and 'sedimentation' (settling of heavier compounds), hindering data collection accuracy.

Toby Cole, co-founder and CEO of Mass Balance, says: 'When we remove the effect of gravity, strange and amazing things happen, some of which will be extremely valuable for life sciences and the pharmaceutical industry.' He adds: 'It may seem strange today, but the real goal is to make space a routine and reliable environment, just another normal research environment.'

Cole points out that this research environment may be crucial for imaging 'intrinsically disordered proteins', which are proteins responsible for age-related diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and certain types of cancer.

On Earth, these proteins constantly change their shapes, making imaging difficult. This creates a gap in training data for life science models, such as Google's AlphaFold, rendering them unable to predict how disordered proteins behave or respond to drugs.

In space, scientists believe that studying and analyzing some disease-causing disordered proteins may be easier. Cole plans to generate data by testing these proteins in a microgravity environment and using it to train an AI model capable of filling knowledge gaps.

Ad material

Ad material