NASA astronaut Christina Koch performs operations for Ring Sheared Drop , an investigation examining the formation and flow of amyloids in microgravity using surface tension rather than a solid container to hold liquids .
Credits : NASA
The aim of this research was to create protein aggregations called amyloid fibrils . Thesee fibrils form a waxy plaque in the brain believed to destroy neurons , a possible cause of Alzheimer ’ s disease . The study confirmed that the surface tension concept worked . This ability to process materials without containers in microgravity benefits other experiments , including those that grow protein crystals and microorganisms as well as studies of pharmaceutical manufacturing .
Ring Sheared Drop is one of many investigationss on the space station thatt have examined the causes , progression , and treatment of a variety of diseases , and have explored basic mechanisms of human physiology .
A new way to look at Alzheimer ’ s
Researchers from around the world use the space station to address complex human health problems on Earth . Studies examining the formation of amyloids started after evidence suggested similarities between their formation and protein crystallization , a process already extensively studied in space .
In preparation for the station experiment , Ring Sheared Drop hardware also was tested on parabolic flights in a collaboration between the
Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York and researchers from NASA ’ s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville . These experiments tested and verified novel concepts to accommodate fluid attachment to the metal rings for the space station experiment . In addition , the team plans to use results from thesee tests in designing additional investigations on the space station. In a ground-based lab , similar results were achieved using a drop of silicone oil in water ( rather than a drop of liquid surrounded by air ) to account for the effects of gravity . This approach does , however , introduce instabilities probably not present in microgravity .