According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft has completed all scheduled tasks and will leave the core module assembly of the space station in the near future and return to the Dongfeng landing site. The experimental tasks completed by the astronauts in orbit are:
At 1, the "calcium signal flicker" of myocardial cells in weightlessness was observed for the first time. The world's first renal epithelial cells from human urine were transformed into dynamic stem cells with multiple functions through gene reprogramming, and then differentiated into cardiomyocytes. By editing a fluorescent protein, gene editing technology can see the flashing process of calcium signal during contraction, which is the first time in the world to see the beautiful contraction process of myocardial cells (in weightlessness environment).
Taking advantage of the sensitivity of myocardial cells to gravity, the researchers also observed according to astronauts' in-orbit experiments. Comparing the contraction process and characteristics of myocardial cells under gravity and weightlessness can help people better understand the influence of weightlessness on future human beings. This technology can let us know the characteristics of cardiovascular changes under weightlessness, in addition. It also provides a good experimental model for human regeneration and aging, including human longevity and heart disease.
2. The world's first weightless suspension culture experiment of skin stem cells, the cells in our small house have four channels, and the cells can (completely) survive in the system 1 month for 30 days, which provides an important technical platform for cell research under long-term weightlessness. Carrying out such cell space experiments will help human beings to better understand life and break through themselves. Another task is aging and differentiation, and doing stem cells is to provide a particularly important basic science for human health. If astronauts want to fly farther and healthier, they can't do without the new gains and new understandings that space medicine keeps gaining. Only with more and more new gains and new understandings can the role of astronauts become stronger and stronger.
The weightless environment of the space station provides convenient conditions for human beings to carry out life science research. Relying on China's space station, the long-term culture system and cell model of space cells were established for the first time during the orbit of Shenzhou XIII. Using these systems and training models, researchers have completed many international leading life science experiments. I wish our space industry more and more brilliant.