1 00:00:56,830 --> 00:00:44,150 [Music] 2 00:00:57,990 --> 00:00:56,840 [Applause] 3 00:01:15,670 --> 00:00:58,000 so 4 00:01:20,070 --> 00:01:17,910 hello and welcome to another virtual 5 00:01:22,630 --> 00:01:20,080 episode of nasa science live 6 00:01:25,190 --> 00:01:22,640 i'm your host lauren ward and today we 7 00:01:26,870 --> 00:01:25,200 have some very exciting news for you 8 00:01:30,550 --> 00:01:26,880 scientists have created thick 9 00:01:32,550 --> 00:01:30,560 vascularized human organ tissue in a lab 10 00:01:33,910 --> 00:01:32,560 these are the first revolutionary steps 11 00:01:36,550 --> 00:01:33,920 to 3d printing 12 00:01:37,590 --> 00:01:36,560 functional human organs so you may be 13 00:01:39,590 --> 00:01:37,600 thinking 14 00:01:41,429 --> 00:01:39,600 what does nasa have to do with this and 15 00:01:43,190 --> 00:01:41,439 why is it such a big deal 16 00:01:44,789 --> 00:01:43,200 stay tuned because today you're going to 17 00:01:48,230 --> 00:01:44,799 find out all about this 18 00:01:50,469 --> 00:01:48,240 and more it will have an enormous impact 19 00:01:51,670 --> 00:01:50,479 on humankind it can really change the 20 00:01:53,590 --> 00:01:51,680 face of medicine 21 00:01:55,109 --> 00:01:53,600 as we know it the vascular tissue 22 00:01:56,870 --> 00:01:55,119 challenge aims to 23 00:01:58,230 --> 00:01:56,880 tackle one of the most fundamental 24 00:01:59,590 --> 00:01:58,240 problems in the field of tissue 25 00:02:00,149 --> 00:01:59,600 engineering the vascular tissue 26 00:02:03,830 --> 00:02:00,159 challenge 27 00:02:05,109 --> 00:02:03,840 that's given to the first three teams 28 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:05,119 that are able to create 29 00:02:08,389 --> 00:02:07,680 vascularized tissue that is to say 30 00:02:10,630 --> 00:02:08,399 tissue 31 00:02:11,670 --> 00:02:10,640 with its own blood vessels so that we 32 00:02:13,750 --> 00:02:11,680 can actually grow 33 00:02:15,110 --> 00:02:13,760 complex tissues that are required for 34 00:02:17,350 --> 00:02:15,120 whole organ development 35 00:02:19,589 --> 00:02:17,360 people can make veins people can make 36 00:02:20,630 --> 00:02:19,599 arteries but no one can put all of it 37 00:02:23,670 --> 00:02:20,640 together a huge 38 00:02:25,430 --> 00:02:23,680 challenge is to ensure that this tissue 39 00:02:27,510 --> 00:02:25,440 functions we need to be able to get 40 00:02:29,830 --> 00:02:27,520 nutrients in and get waste products out 41 00:02:31,670 --> 00:02:29,840 there needs to be a blood supply so 42 00:02:32,710 --> 00:02:31,680 centennial challenge is a really unique 43 00:02:34,710 --> 00:02:32,720 way of tackling 44 00:02:36,229 --> 00:02:34,720 certain problems because of the capacity 45 00:02:38,229 --> 00:02:36,239 to revolutionize 46 00:02:40,390 --> 00:02:38,239 organ transplantation tissue 47 00:02:43,170 --> 00:02:40,400 regeneration we can make a difference 48 00:02:45,270 --> 00:02:43,180 both on earth and in space 49 00:02:47,110 --> 00:02:45,280 [Music] 50 00:02:49,350 --> 00:02:47,120 teams across the country have been 51 00:02:50,070 --> 00:02:49,360 competing for years to be the first to 52 00:02:52,630 --> 00:02:50,080 engineer 53 00:02:54,229 --> 00:02:52,640 functional human tissue and today we're 54 00:02:54,869 --> 00:02:54,239 going to announce the official winner of 55 00:02:57,670 --> 00:02:54,879 nasa's 56 00:02:59,270 --> 00:02:57,680 vascular tissue challenge here to talk 57 00:03:00,070 --> 00:02:59,280 more about the challenge is monsieur 58 00:03:02,550 --> 00:03:00,080 rahman 59 00:03:03,670 --> 00:03:02,560 the program manager of nasa's centennial 60 00:03:05,350 --> 00:03:03,680 challenges 61 00:03:07,910 --> 00:03:05,360 monsie thank you so much for joining us 62 00:03:08,390 --> 00:03:07,920 today thank you lauren for having me 63 00:03:11,509 --> 00:03:08,400 today 64 00:03:14,070 --> 00:03:11,519 i am so excited to talk about the winner 65 00:03:15,430 --> 00:03:14,080 and what we're doing yeah there is a lot 66 00:03:18,630 --> 00:03:15,440 to be excited about 67 00:03:21,509 --> 00:03:18,640 um okay basics what is the vascular 68 00:03:22,309 --> 00:03:21,519 tissue challenge all about the vascular 69 00:03:24,390 --> 00:03:22,319 tissue challenge 70 00:03:25,670 --> 00:03:24,400 is about incentivizing the public to 71 00:03:29,589 --> 00:03:25,680 help us develop 72 00:03:33,110 --> 00:03:29,599 thick functional tissue from major human 73 00:03:35,990 --> 00:03:33,120 organs that can one day perhaps help us 74 00:03:37,270 --> 00:03:36,000 achieve long duration missions keep our 75 00:03:41,350 --> 00:03:37,280 astronauts healthy 76 00:03:44,789 --> 00:03:41,360 and also have amazing earth applications 77 00:03:46,470 --> 00:03:44,799 amazing that sounds great to me why is 78 00:03:48,070 --> 00:03:46,480 nasa interested in this sort of 79 00:03:49,350 --> 00:03:48,080 revolutionary technology you touched on 80 00:03:50,710 --> 00:03:49,360 it a little bit but let's go a little 81 00:03:53,030 --> 00:03:50,720 bit deeper 82 00:03:55,030 --> 00:03:53,040 so nasa is super interested in this for 83 00:03:55,670 --> 00:03:55,040 very many different reasons so the first 84 00:03:58,309 --> 00:03:55,680 one 85 00:03:58,949 --> 00:03:58,319 short term would be the possibility of 86 00:04:02,309 --> 00:03:58,959 help 87 00:04:04,390 --> 00:04:02,319 incentivize the commercialization of 88 00:04:06,470 --> 00:04:04,400 the international space station by 89 00:04:08,869 --> 00:04:06,480 allowing companies to perhaps 90 00:04:10,149 --> 00:04:08,879 create tissues for humans on earth that 91 00:04:11,830 --> 00:04:10,159 need a little bit of help 92 00:04:14,229 --> 00:04:11,840 with their organs that might be not 93 00:04:16,629 --> 00:04:14,239 functioning a hundred percent 94 00:04:18,629 --> 00:04:16,639 but in the long run uh we are looking at 95 00:04:21,749 --> 00:04:18,639 these kinds of technologies to help us 96 00:04:23,670 --> 00:04:21,759 understand the effects of radiation 97 00:04:25,909 --> 00:04:23,680 on the human body without using human 98 00:04:28,790 --> 00:04:25,919 bodies using you know tissues 99 00:04:30,710 --> 00:04:28,800 and then long long long term after that 100 00:04:31,430 --> 00:04:30,720 possibly to help us maintain the health 101 00:04:34,629 --> 00:04:31,440 of our crew 102 00:04:37,990 --> 00:04:34,639 when we go to mars and beyond wow 103 00:04:38,310 --> 00:04:38,000 that's amazing um so i understand this 104 00:04:40,830 --> 00:04:38,320 is 105 00:04:42,310 --> 00:04:40,840 just one of many prize competitions at 106 00:04:45,830 --> 00:04:42,320 nasa why 107 00:04:48,150 --> 00:04:45,840 challenges oh my goodness 108 00:04:49,350 --> 00:04:48,160 challenges are amazing it is a way to 109 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:49,360 involve the public 110 00:04:54,390 --> 00:04:52,560 in the nasa mission and allows people 111 00:04:56,950 --> 00:04:54,400 that perhaps have never thought about 112 00:04:57,670 --> 00:04:56,960 competing or about being part of the 113 00:05:00,150 --> 00:04:57,680 nasa 114 00:05:01,749 --> 00:05:00,160 groups to be part of our group we have 115 00:05:04,550 --> 00:05:01,759 had an incredible 116 00:05:05,749 --> 00:05:04,560 success with people that have never ever 117 00:05:08,150 --> 00:05:05,759 even dreamed about 118 00:05:10,150 --> 00:05:08,160 contributing to the nasa mission and 119 00:05:11,830 --> 00:05:10,160 challenges our way of doing that 120 00:05:13,909 --> 00:05:11,840 it's a way for us to tell you what our 121 00:05:15,990 --> 00:05:13,919 problems are our issues are 122 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:16,000 our technology gaps and for the public 123 00:05:18,710 --> 00:05:17,520 to come back and tell us 124 00:05:21,270 --> 00:05:18,720 you know the amazing things they're 125 00:05:23,350 --> 00:05:21,280 doing and how their technologies can 126 00:05:26,469 --> 00:05:23,360 help us 127 00:05:28,230 --> 00:05:26,479 wow that is incredible stuff um 128 00:05:30,150 --> 00:05:28,240 thank you so much for joining us today 129 00:05:32,230 --> 00:05:30,160 monty 130 00:05:35,029 --> 00:05:32,240 you're welcome thank you for having us 131 00:05:37,270 --> 00:05:35,039 and we're super excited 132 00:05:38,390 --> 00:05:37,280 so solving the vascular tissue challenge 133 00:05:40,950 --> 00:05:38,400 will have a huge 134 00:05:42,390 --> 00:05:40,960 impact on nasa's long-term goals but it 135 00:05:44,710 --> 00:05:42,400 can also have an impact 136 00:05:46,230 --> 00:05:44,720 on those of us here on earth the 137 00:05:48,469 --> 00:05:46,240 vascular tissue challenge 138 00:05:49,749 --> 00:05:48,479 wants to make a piece of tissue 139 00:05:51,749 --> 00:05:49,759 vascularized tissue 140 00:05:53,670 --> 00:05:51,759 is a composite type of tissue it has 141 00:05:55,189 --> 00:05:53,680 more than one sort of cell in it 142 00:05:56,790 --> 00:05:55,199 there needs to be blood vessels 143 00:05:58,230 --> 00:05:56,800 throughout this tissue that are 144 00:06:00,790 --> 00:05:58,240 integrated fully with 145 00:06:02,309 --> 00:06:00,800 the organ tissue we've seen some great 146 00:06:03,830 --> 00:06:02,319 successes in the development of tissue 147 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:03,840 engineering products we are 148 00:06:07,110 --> 00:06:05,960 making some progress with regard to 149 00:06:09,110 --> 00:06:07,120 vascularization 150 00:06:10,790 --> 00:06:09,120 we're beginning to understand the 151 00:06:13,430 --> 00:06:10,800 signals that are necessary 152 00:06:14,230 --> 00:06:13,440 to switch on cells to become blood 153 00:06:16,629 --> 00:06:14,240 vessels 154 00:06:18,390 --> 00:06:16,639 if we could create vascularized tissue 155 00:06:20,070 --> 00:06:18,400 we could create whole organs 156 00:06:21,590 --> 00:06:20,080 in order to successfully grow whole 157 00:06:23,430 --> 00:06:21,600 organs it'll be essential that we 158 00:06:25,909 --> 00:06:23,440 further develop these technologies 159 00:06:26,710 --> 00:06:25,919 putting all those together is really the 160 00:06:28,469 --> 00:06:26,720 holy grail 161 00:06:30,230 --> 00:06:28,479 that's what we're looking to do the 162 00:06:32,950 --> 00:06:30,240 vascular tissue challenge 163 00:06:34,230 --> 00:06:32,960 is an essential step that will help to 164 00:06:38,230 --> 00:06:34,240 address that issue 165 00:06:41,830 --> 00:06:40,150 to help us understand the significant 166 00:06:43,990 --> 00:06:41,840 impacts this challenge will have on the 167 00:06:47,029 --> 00:06:44,000 scientific and medical communities 168 00:06:48,150 --> 00:06:47,039 we are joined by dr arun sharma vascular 169 00:06:50,150 --> 00:06:48,160 tissue challenge judge 170 00:06:51,189 --> 00:06:50,160 and a research fellow at cedars-sinai 171 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:51,199 medical center 172 00:06:55,589 --> 00:06:53,840 thank you so much for joining us today 173 00:06:58,150 --> 00:06:55,599 thank you for having me 174 00:06:59,350 --> 00:06:58,160 okay one thing i you know we i think we 175 00:07:01,990 --> 00:06:59,360 should clear up here 176 00:07:03,110 --> 00:07:02,000 is can you explain exactly what 177 00:07:06,390 --> 00:07:03,120 vascularized 178 00:07:09,749 --> 00:07:06,400 tissue is sure i'd love to 179 00:07:12,469 --> 00:07:09,759 vascularize tissue in the simplest term 180 00:07:13,270 --> 00:07:12,479 is tissue that has blood vessels and the 181 00:07:15,029 --> 00:07:13,280 reality is 182 00:07:16,309 --> 00:07:15,039 all the tissues in our body are 183 00:07:18,870 --> 00:07:16,319 comprised of 184 00:07:20,790 --> 00:07:18,880 many many blood vessels so if we want to 185 00:07:23,830 --> 00:07:20,800 better understand 186 00:07:24,950 --> 00:07:23,840 how the human body is functioning we 187 00:07:27,430 --> 00:07:24,960 want to develop 188 00:07:28,550 --> 00:07:27,440 vascularized tissues outside of the body 189 00:07:31,749 --> 00:07:28,560 that also contain 190 00:07:34,870 --> 00:07:31,759 engineered blood vessels 191 00:07:36,629 --> 00:07:34,880 wow okay so it it's it's a crucial 192 00:07:37,670 --> 00:07:36,639 component to basically it's one of the 193 00:07:39,510 --> 00:07:37,680 building blocks 194 00:07:41,110 --> 00:07:39,520 it sounds like to doing more research on 195 00:07:42,870 --> 00:07:41,120 this topic but 196 00:07:44,390 --> 00:07:42,880 why isn't why is it important that we 197 00:07:46,230 --> 00:07:44,400 engineer vascularized tissue 198 00:07:49,830 --> 00:07:46,240 you know what makes it so what makes it 199 00:07:52,469 --> 00:07:49,840 such a difficult challenge to solve 200 00:07:53,270 --> 00:07:52,479 certainly well vascularized tissue 201 00:07:56,309 --> 00:07:53,280 enables 202 00:07:56,869 --> 00:07:56,319 tissue in general to get bigger and 203 00:07:59,110 --> 00:07:56,879 better 204 00:07:59,990 --> 00:07:59,120 blood vessels supply the nutrients and 205 00:08:02,309 --> 00:08:00,000 oxygen that 206 00:08:03,110 --> 00:08:02,319 all tissues in the body need to grow and 207 00:08:05,110 --> 00:08:03,120 function 208 00:08:07,110 --> 00:08:05,120 appropriately and so if we want to 209 00:08:08,309 --> 00:08:07,120 better understand how the human body is 210 00:08:11,830 --> 00:08:08,319 actually functioning 211 00:08:12,550 --> 00:08:11,840 we wanted to engineer true vascularized 212 00:08:17,430 --> 00:08:12,560 tissues 213 00:08:18,309 --> 00:08:17,440 ideally should have the many many blood 214 00:08:20,230 --> 00:08:18,319 vessels 215 00:08:21,749 --> 00:08:20,240 that are found in all tissues in the 216 00:08:24,390 --> 00:08:21,759 human body it's not an 217 00:08:25,189 --> 00:08:24,400 easy thing to do because as a lot of us 218 00:08:28,629 --> 00:08:25,199 know 219 00:08:29,350 --> 00:08:28,639 the human body has hundreds of thousands 220 00:08:32,310 --> 00:08:29,360 of different 221 00:08:34,070 --> 00:08:32,320 capillaries blood vessels arteries veins 222 00:08:35,029 --> 00:08:34,080 all different types of vessels that are 223 00:08:38,149 --> 00:08:35,039 important for 224 00:08:40,070 --> 00:08:38,159 supplying the nutrients to the body and 225 00:08:41,750 --> 00:08:40,080 a lot of times nature is the best 226 00:08:43,190 --> 00:08:41,760 engineer and we're trying to replicate 227 00:08:45,030 --> 00:08:43,200 what nature can do 228 00:08:46,389 --> 00:08:45,040 by introducing as many of these blood 229 00:08:49,990 --> 00:08:46,399 vessels as we can 230 00:08:52,870 --> 00:08:50,000 in these tissues outside the body 231 00:08:56,550 --> 00:08:52,880 wow okay so looking forward how will 232 00:08:57,990 --> 00:08:56,560 this change medicine as we know it 233 00:09:00,550 --> 00:08:58,000 absolutely i think this is going to 234 00:09:03,670 --> 00:09:00,560 change medicine in two ways 235 00:09:06,550 --> 00:09:03,680 one is that these vascularized tissues 236 00:09:07,190 --> 00:09:06,560 will allow us to better understand how 237 00:09:11,190 --> 00:09:07,200 the 238 00:09:13,829 --> 00:09:11,200 human body actually function 239 00:09:15,269 --> 00:09:13,839 as i mentioned all tissues in the body 240 00:09:17,269 --> 00:09:15,279 have blood vessels 241 00:09:18,870 --> 00:09:17,279 so it doesn't matter what disease you're 242 00:09:20,310 --> 00:09:18,880 interested in studying whether it's 243 00:09:23,670 --> 00:09:20,320 cardiovascular disease 244 00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:23,680 liver disease brain disease all diseases 245 00:09:26,630 --> 00:09:24,480 of the body 246 00:09:28,389 --> 00:09:26,640 are intersected with the circulatory 247 00:09:30,870 --> 00:09:28,399 system in the blood vessel network 248 00:09:32,230 --> 00:09:30,880 so if we can engineer better 249 00:09:34,389 --> 00:09:32,240 vascularized tissue 250 00:09:35,269 --> 00:09:34,399 we can study a variety of different 251 00:09:37,590 --> 00:09:35,279 diseases 252 00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:37,600 in a dish so to say and the second 253 00:09:41,670 --> 00:09:39,440 reason why this is really important 254 00:09:43,190 --> 00:09:41,680 is because down the road we want to 255 00:09:44,790 --> 00:09:43,200 potentially use some of this 256 00:09:47,110 --> 00:09:44,800 vascularized tissue 257 00:09:48,470 --> 00:09:47,120 for therapeutic purposes just to give a 258 00:09:51,190 --> 00:09:48,480 simple example 259 00:09:53,350 --> 00:09:51,200 after folks have a heart attack or a 260 00:09:55,750 --> 00:09:53,360 myocardial infarction as we call it 261 00:09:56,470 --> 00:09:55,760 a lot of the cells in your heart are 262 00:09:58,470 --> 00:09:56,480 lost 263 00:09:59,509 --> 00:09:58,480 and ideally you want to be able to 264 00:10:02,550 --> 00:09:59,519 replace those 265 00:10:03,990 --> 00:10:02,560 lost cells with an adequate cell type 266 00:10:06,550 --> 00:10:04,000 that's going to replace the 267 00:10:08,150 --> 00:10:06,560 function of those dead cells and 268 00:10:11,030 --> 00:10:08,160 vascularized tissue 269 00:10:12,790 --> 00:10:11,040 can provide a way to actually restore 270 00:10:14,470 --> 00:10:12,800 the proper function of the heart 271 00:10:15,910 --> 00:10:14,480 so those are just two potential 272 00:10:19,030 --> 00:10:15,920 applications for 273 00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:19,040 this technology so this 274 00:10:24,389 --> 00:10:22,240 all sounds pretty good but 275 00:10:25,990 --> 00:10:24,399 why should the average person care about 276 00:10:28,870 --> 00:10:26,000 this 277 00:10:29,269 --> 00:10:28,880 certainly well vascularized tissue as 278 00:10:31,990 --> 00:10:29,279 i've 279 00:10:32,550 --> 00:10:32,000 alluded to is something that we all have 280 00:10:34,949 --> 00:10:32,560 and 281 00:10:37,269 --> 00:10:34,959 unfortunately we all know folks in our 282 00:10:39,269 --> 00:10:37,279 families who have had to deal with say 283 00:10:40,310 --> 00:10:39,279 cardiovascular disease or neurological 284 00:10:42,790 --> 00:10:40,320 diseases 285 00:10:44,150 --> 00:10:42,800 and if we can better engineer models of 286 00:10:47,030 --> 00:10:44,160 these different diseases 287 00:10:47,670 --> 00:10:47,040 to study these issues potentially in a 288 00:10:49,190 --> 00:10:47,680 dish 289 00:10:51,269 --> 00:10:49,200 then perhaps down the road we can 290 00:10:52,790 --> 00:10:51,279 develop new and improved therapies for 291 00:10:54,630 --> 00:10:52,800 say cardiovascular disease or 292 00:10:55,430 --> 00:10:54,640 neurological disease or even liver 293 00:10:58,150 --> 00:10:55,440 function 294 00:10:59,829 --> 00:10:58,160 so these are translational applications 295 00:11:01,670 --> 00:10:59,839 for vascularized tissue and i think 296 00:11:04,710 --> 00:11:01,680 really the sky's the limit for this 297 00:11:06,550 --> 00:11:04,720 type of technology that's the future i 298 00:11:09,590 --> 00:11:06,560 want to be part of 299 00:11:12,150 --> 00:11:09,600 certainly um i want to know how 300 00:11:13,110 --> 00:11:12,160 you got into this challenge and were you 301 00:11:16,150 --> 00:11:13,120 surprised 302 00:11:18,069 --> 00:11:16,160 to learn that nasa was even doing this 303 00:11:20,230 --> 00:11:18,079 challenge 304 00:11:21,509 --> 00:11:20,240 well i've been excited about the 305 00:11:23,670 --> 00:11:21,519 intersection of 306 00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:23,680 space biology and microgravity research 307 00:11:26,630 --> 00:11:25,920 and cardiovascular research for a long 308 00:11:28,710 --> 00:11:26,640 time 309 00:11:30,470 --> 00:11:28,720 i actually had the opportunity to send 310 00:11:31,910 --> 00:11:30,480 an experiment to the international space 311 00:11:35,269 --> 00:11:31,920 station a few years ago 312 00:11:36,150 --> 00:11:35,279 studying the impact of microgravity on 313 00:11:38,069 --> 00:11:36,160 the human heart 314 00:11:39,269 --> 00:11:38,079 using stem cell-derived heart cells 315 00:11:40,069 --> 00:11:39,279 which are really exciting because you 316 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:40,079 can see them be 317 00:11:43,350 --> 00:11:41,920 in a dish not something that you see 318 00:11:45,829 --> 00:11:43,360 every single day 319 00:11:46,710 --> 00:11:45,839 and just so happens the astronaut we 320 00:11:49,269 --> 00:11:46,720 were working with 321 00:11:50,949 --> 00:11:49,279 on that project is dr kate rubins who's 322 00:11:52,790 --> 00:11:50,959 not only an outstanding astronaut but 323 00:11:54,150 --> 00:11:52,800 also a cell biologist and i believe 324 00:11:56,230 --> 00:11:54,160 we'll be talking to her 325 00:11:58,790 --> 00:11:56,240 in a few moments so we actually 326 00:12:00,949 --> 00:11:58,800 collaborated in the summer of 2016 to 327 00:12:02,949 --> 00:12:00,959 send these samples to the space station 328 00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:02,959 for a period of about one month during 329 00:12:06,710 --> 00:12:04,560 which time we actually studied 330 00:12:08,150 --> 00:12:06,720 how the human heart and the cells of the 331 00:12:10,949 --> 00:12:08,160 human heart can change 332 00:12:11,350 --> 00:12:10,959 during long-term exposure to low gravity 333 00:12:15,190 --> 00:12:11,360 and 334 00:12:16,710 --> 00:12:15,200 learned a lot from it 335 00:12:18,790 --> 00:12:16,720 but we're always trying to figure out 336 00:12:21,030 --> 00:12:18,800 new ways to improve 337 00:12:21,990 --> 00:12:21,040 these results and improve the subsequent 338 00:12:24,069 --> 00:12:22,000 experiments 339 00:12:25,910 --> 00:12:24,079 and one thing that was really missing in 340 00:12:26,790 --> 00:12:25,920 this experiment that i did you know back 341 00:12:30,069 --> 00:12:26,800 in the day 342 00:12:32,790 --> 00:12:30,079 was a vascularized network of of tissues 343 00:12:34,790 --> 00:12:32,800 a vascular tissue right so this was just 344 00:12:37,430 --> 00:12:34,800 looking at isolated cells in the dish 345 00:12:38,069 --> 00:12:37,440 but as i've mentioned the real human 346 00:12:40,710 --> 00:12:38,079 body 347 00:12:42,949 --> 00:12:40,720 is comprised of many many blood vessels 348 00:12:44,629 --> 00:12:42,959 and so if we want to better understand 349 00:12:47,030 --> 00:12:44,639 how the human body is going to function 350 00:12:49,110 --> 00:12:47,040 in low gravity we have to use these next 351 00:12:51,430 --> 00:12:49,120 generation models that contain these 352 00:12:53,190 --> 00:12:51,440 blood vessels 353 00:12:55,430 --> 00:12:53,200 wow you have given us a lot to think 354 00:12:57,110 --> 00:12:55,440 about and a lot to be excited about 355 00:12:59,110 --> 00:12:57,120 um and i want to thank you for joining 356 00:13:00,949 --> 00:12:59,120 us today thank you so much 357 00:13:02,710 --> 00:13:00,959 thank you again for having me the 358 00:13:05,190 --> 00:13:02,720 benefits of this technology are 359 00:13:06,870 --> 00:13:05,200 so exciting for medicine here on earth 360 00:13:08,870 --> 00:13:06,880 but what about in space 361 00:13:10,790 --> 00:13:08,880 we are now here with robin gayton 362 00:13:11,670 --> 00:13:10,800 director of the international space 363 00:13:13,590 --> 00:13:11,680 station 364 00:13:14,870 --> 00:13:13,600 robin i'm so happy you could join us 365 00:13:17,110 --> 00:13:14,880 today 366 00:13:18,710 --> 00:13:17,120 thank you for having me lauren all right 367 00:13:21,269 --> 00:13:18,720 let's get straight into it 368 00:13:22,790 --> 00:13:21,279 um what technologies or what do 369 00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:22,800 technologies like those being 370 00:13:29,190 --> 00:13:25,360 solved by the vascular tissue challenge 371 00:13:33,030 --> 00:13:30,629 they're important for a couple of 372 00:13:34,470 --> 00:13:33,040 reasons one of the key missions for the 373 00:13:37,430 --> 00:13:34,480 international space station 374 00:13:39,590 --> 00:13:37,440 is to use it as a test bed to enable 375 00:13:40,069 --> 00:13:39,600 future explorations beyond low earth 376 00:13:42,389 --> 00:13:40,079 orbit 377 00:13:44,150 --> 00:13:42,399 so the vascularized thick tissue models 378 00:13:46,069 --> 00:13:44,160 resulting from this challenge 379 00:13:47,829 --> 00:13:46,079 will function as organ analogues or 380 00:13:48,389 --> 00:13:47,839 models that can be used to study deep 381 00:13:51,590 --> 00:13:48,399 space 382 00:13:54,069 --> 00:13:51,600 environmental effects such as radiation 383 00:13:54,949 --> 00:13:54,079 microgravity deconditioning and then 384 00:13:57,430 --> 00:13:54,959 help us develop 385 00:13:59,590 --> 00:13:57,440 strategies to minimize the damage to 386 00:14:01,189 --> 00:13:59,600 healthy cells and mitigate the negative 387 00:14:03,350 --> 00:14:01,199 effects on humans 388 00:14:04,629 --> 00:14:03,360 for these long-duration missions away 389 00:14:06,470 --> 00:14:04,639 from low-earth orbit 390 00:14:07,829 --> 00:14:06,480 one of the other key missions of the 391 00:14:11,670 --> 00:14:07,839 international space station 392 00:14:13,590 --> 00:14:11,680 is to create a new markets in space 393 00:14:15,910 --> 00:14:13,600 we're trying to create an economy 394 00:14:17,189 --> 00:14:15,920 in low-earth orbit where nasa is one of 395 00:14:20,310 --> 00:14:17,199 many customers 396 00:14:23,350 --> 00:14:20,320 and and there's all kinds of other 397 00:14:25,590 --> 00:14:23,360 enterprises going on and so we 398 00:14:26,790 --> 00:14:25,600 think the area of regenerative medicine 399 00:14:29,030 --> 00:14:26,800 and tissue engineering 400 00:14:30,310 --> 00:14:29,040 is one of the most promising of these 401 00:14:33,269 --> 00:14:30,320 potential 402 00:14:35,030 --> 00:14:33,279 applications that can create sustained 403 00:14:38,230 --> 00:14:35,040 non-nasa demand 404 00:14:39,269 --> 00:14:38,240 for ongoing research in microgravity and 405 00:14:41,590 --> 00:14:39,279 in microgravity 406 00:14:44,069 --> 00:14:41,600 it could be possible to print or grow 407 00:14:47,750 --> 00:14:44,079 tissue or even organs better than we can 408 00:14:49,590 --> 00:14:47,760 here on earth that is wild 409 00:14:51,430 --> 00:14:49,600 who would have predicted that i guess 410 00:14:54,310 --> 00:14:51,440 our scientists 411 00:14:56,470 --> 00:14:54,320 um you know so we all love our 412 00:14:58,710 --> 00:14:56,480 astronauts on the iss 413 00:15:00,790 --> 00:14:58,720 but most of us are here on earth so how 414 00:15:04,310 --> 00:15:00,800 can developing technologies for space 415 00:15:06,069 --> 00:15:04,320 affect us here back on planet earth 416 00:15:08,230 --> 00:15:06,079 we have so many technologies we've 417 00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:08,240 developed for space that has spun off to 418 00:15:11,829 --> 00:15:09,920 applications here on earth 419 00:15:13,350 --> 00:15:11,839 and that's that's another key goal of 420 00:15:15,430 --> 00:15:13,360 the international space station 421 00:15:16,949 --> 00:15:15,440 is to do research that benefits life 422 00:15:19,350 --> 00:15:16,959 here on earth 423 00:15:20,389 --> 00:15:19,360 and so on earth the vascularized tissue 424 00:15:22,949 --> 00:15:20,399 could be used in 425 00:15:23,750 --> 00:15:22,959 pharmaceutical testing or disease 426 00:15:25,269 --> 00:15:23,760 modeling 427 00:15:26,949 --> 00:15:25,279 and it could also accelerate new 428 00:15:29,670 --> 00:15:26,959 research and development in the field of 429 00:15:32,069 --> 00:15:29,680 organ transplants as we talked about 430 00:15:33,269 --> 00:15:32,079 other areas that we have developed 431 00:15:35,269 --> 00:15:33,279 technology for 432 00:15:37,350 --> 00:15:35,279 another example is in our water 433 00:15:38,389 --> 00:15:37,360 recycling technology that we use on the 434 00:15:41,590 --> 00:15:38,399 space station 435 00:15:43,430 --> 00:15:41,600 that technology has spun off into 436 00:15:45,350 --> 00:15:43,440 ground-based filtration systems that 437 00:15:47,749 --> 00:15:45,360 have been used in disaster relief 438 00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:47,759 and remote areas where there is no clean 439 00:15:54,710 --> 00:15:52,790 wow this makes me very excited and 440 00:15:56,470 --> 00:15:54,720 hopeful for the future 441 00:15:58,790 --> 00:15:56,480 robin i want to thank you for joining us 442 00:16:00,389 --> 00:15:58,800 today we've really loved having you 443 00:16:02,389 --> 00:16:00,399 thank you i'm excited to have 444 00:16:05,749 --> 00:16:02,399 participated thanks a lot 445 00:16:07,430 --> 00:16:05,759 of course speaking of space exploration 446 00:16:09,350 --> 00:16:07,440 let's hear from someone who knows 447 00:16:11,110 --> 00:16:09,360 firsthand what living and working in 448 00:16:14,069 --> 00:16:11,120 space is all about 449 00:16:15,030 --> 00:16:14,079 coming to us from space astronaut kate 450 00:16:18,389 --> 00:16:15,040 rubins 451 00:16:20,310 --> 00:16:18,399 take it away kate greetings from the 452 00:16:22,949 --> 00:16:20,320 international space station 453 00:16:23,829 --> 00:16:22,959 i'm kate rubins expedition 64 flight 454 00:16:25,389 --> 00:16:23,839 engineer 455 00:16:26,949 --> 00:16:25,399 i'm a nasa astronaut and a 456 00:16:28,710 --> 00:16:26,959 microbiologist 457 00:16:30,470 --> 00:16:28,720 and i want to congratulate the nasa 458 00:16:33,269 --> 00:16:30,480 centennial challenges team 459 00:16:35,189 --> 00:16:33,279 and all of the participating competitors 460 00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:35,199 on the success of the vascular tissue 461 00:16:39,030 --> 00:16:36,720 competition 462 00:16:41,030 --> 00:16:39,040 research conducted here in microgravity 463 00:16:42,550 --> 00:16:41,040 helps nasa prepare for long duration 464 00:16:45,189 --> 00:16:42,560 missions to the moon 465 00:16:46,949 --> 00:16:45,199 to mars and contributes to improvements 466 00:16:48,710 --> 00:16:46,959 for life on earth 467 00:16:51,430 --> 00:16:48,720 during my first space flight mission in 468 00:16:51,990 --> 00:16:51,440 2016 we were able to sequence dna in 469 00:16:54,389 --> 00:16:52,000 space 470 00:16:55,910 --> 00:16:54,399 for the very first time with this 471 00:16:56,870 --> 00:16:55,920 breakthrough in three-dimensional 472 00:16:59,670 --> 00:16:56,880 printing thick 473 00:17:01,269 --> 00:16:59,680 vascularized human organ tissue we could 474 00:17:03,110 --> 00:17:01,279 be able to test the impacts of 475 00:17:04,710 --> 00:17:03,120 microgravity on tissues 476 00:17:07,029 --> 00:17:04,720 right here on the international space 477 00:17:08,230 --> 00:17:07,039 station and this could pave the way for 478 00:17:09,750 --> 00:17:08,240 medical breakthroughs 479 00:17:12,549 --> 00:17:09,760 in tissue and preparation and 480 00:17:14,390 --> 00:17:12,559 regeneration back on earth 481 00:17:16,470 --> 00:17:14,400 i'm excited about the research being 482 00:17:17,029 --> 00:17:16,480 done by all of the vascular tissue 483 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:17,039 challenge 484 00:17:22,069 --> 00:17:19,760 participants and i really look forward 485 00:17:23,429 --> 00:17:22,079 to potentially working with your tissue 486 00:17:25,510 --> 00:17:23,439 samples here 487 00:17:26,630 --> 00:17:25,520 on the international space station in 488 00:17:32,630 --> 00:17:26,640 the future 489 00:17:34,950 --> 00:17:32,640 thank you and congratulations 490 00:17:36,870 --> 00:17:34,960 thanks kate we are moments away from 491 00:17:39,350 --> 00:17:36,880 announcing the winner of nasa's 492 00:17:40,630 --> 00:17:39,360 vascular tissue challenge but first 493 00:17:41,590 --> 00:17:40,640 let's hear from the methuselah 494 00:17:43,669 --> 00:17:41,600 foundation 495 00:17:46,630 --> 00:17:43,679 an organization that partnered with nasa 496 00:17:48,950 --> 00:17:46,640 to help make this challenge a reality 497 00:17:50,870 --> 00:17:48,960 we are joined by dave gowell thank you 498 00:17:53,909 --> 00:17:50,880 for joining us today dave 499 00:17:55,990 --> 00:17:53,919 it's my pleasure thank you for having me 500 00:17:57,270 --> 00:17:56,000 it's wonderful to have you all right so 501 00:17:59,510 --> 00:17:57,280 let's you know 502 00:18:00,950 --> 00:17:59,520 lay some groundwork here why did you 503 00:18:04,230 --> 00:18:00,960 team up with nasa to 504 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:04,240 support the vascular tissue challenge 505 00:18:08,630 --> 00:18:06,640 well we're a prize uh funding 506 00:18:11,830 --> 00:18:08,640 organization as well as nasa 507 00:18:14,950 --> 00:18:11,840 about six years ago we had a prize 508 00:18:17,750 --> 00:18:14,960 for the creation of a whole liver 509 00:18:18,230 --> 00:18:17,760 that would be viable in a model organism 510 00:18:19,830 --> 00:18:18,240 for 511 00:18:21,990 --> 00:18:19,840 three months keep it alive keep it 512 00:18:24,789 --> 00:18:22,000 healthy but we were 513 00:18:25,510 --> 00:18:24,799 way too early and the technology didn't 514 00:18:28,630 --> 00:18:25,520 support 515 00:18:30,630 --> 00:18:28,640 that goal and so we 516 00:18:31,669 --> 00:18:30,640 we stepped back and we asked ourselves 517 00:18:34,710 --> 00:18:31,679 what was the real 518 00:18:37,750 --> 00:18:34,720 rate limiter for getting 519 00:18:38,310 --> 00:18:37,760 whole organs and the real problem was 520 00:18:41,350 --> 00:18:38,320 that 521 00:18:44,630 --> 00:18:41,360 you could not scale the tissues up 522 00:18:46,549 --> 00:18:44,640 above 20 cells thick 523 00:18:48,390 --> 00:18:46,559 the tissues would begin to die because 524 00:18:51,549 --> 00:18:48,400 of a lack of blood flow 525 00:18:52,789 --> 00:18:51,559 and that blood flow was provided by 526 00:18:55,750 --> 00:18:52,799 microcirculation 527 00:18:55,990 --> 00:18:55,760 tiny capillaries and vessels and nobody 528 00:18:59,029 --> 00:18:56,000 knew 529 00:19:01,430 --> 00:18:59,039 how to make those and so we thought we 530 00:19:04,430 --> 00:19:01,440 would propose to nasa 531 00:19:06,549 --> 00:19:04,440 the creation of a prize for 532 00:19:09,270 --> 00:19:06,559 microvasculature and 533 00:19:09,990 --> 00:19:09,280 nasa after a couple of years said yes 534 00:19:14,070 --> 00:19:10,000 and so 535 00:19:15,350 --> 00:19:14,080 here we are amazing yeah the rest is 536 00:19:18,870 --> 00:19:15,360 history right 537 00:19:21,510 --> 00:19:18,880 um so where do you see technologies like 538 00:19:22,070 --> 00:19:21,520 growing human tissues and human organs 539 00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:22,080 in 540 00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:25,440 10 20 50 years from now 541 00:19:29,190 --> 00:19:27,760 well in the next five to ten years we 542 00:19:32,390 --> 00:19:29,200 will be able to 543 00:19:35,750 --> 00:19:32,400 make uh tissue patches to 544 00:19:37,029 --> 00:19:35,760 print out uh for instance liver tissue 545 00:19:41,110 --> 00:19:37,039 that would be 546 00:19:43,909 --> 00:19:41,120 added to a sick liver and that liver 547 00:19:44,789 --> 00:19:43,919 could potentially recover itself because 548 00:19:48,870 --> 00:19:44,799 of the 549 00:19:52,390 --> 00:19:48,880 patch 550 00:19:54,310 --> 00:19:52,400 or it would allow for more time uh for a 551 00:19:56,470 --> 00:19:54,320 transplant to become available 552 00:19:58,070 --> 00:19:56,480 so that's actually in a reasonably 553 00:20:01,669 --> 00:19:58,080 near-term future 554 00:20:04,470 --> 00:20:01,679 from a technology standpoint in the next 555 00:20:05,750 --> 00:20:04,480 10 to 15 years i would say that we would 556 00:20:08,950 --> 00:20:05,760 be able to get 557 00:20:12,149 --> 00:20:08,960 whole livers and 558 00:20:14,230 --> 00:20:12,159 whole kidneys and the reason we want to 559 00:20:17,110 --> 00:20:14,240 do that is because there's 110 560 00:20:19,430 --> 00:20:17,120 000 people always on the waiting list 561 00:20:20,950 --> 00:20:19,440 and 25 percent of them pass away while 562 00:20:25,270 --> 00:20:20,960 they're waiting 563 00:20:28,630 --> 00:20:25,280 but there's another 10 times that 564 00:20:31,669 --> 00:20:28,640 that don't qualify to even be on 565 00:20:34,310 --> 00:20:31,679 the list for an organ replacement 566 00:20:35,350 --> 00:20:34,320 so we want to make that all go away and 567 00:20:38,549 --> 00:20:35,360 we want to give the 568 00:20:39,669 --> 00:20:38,559 surgeons all the inventory needed to 569 00:20:43,029 --> 00:20:39,679 make it possible 570 00:20:46,310 --> 00:20:43,039 and then shortly thereafter the 571 00:20:49,430 --> 00:20:46,320 organs will be composed of your own 572 00:20:49,669 --> 00:20:49,440 cells so that you'll never have to be on 573 00:20:52,789 --> 00:20:49,679 an 574 00:20:55,590 --> 00:20:52,799 autoimmune drug it will just be 575 00:20:58,630 --> 00:20:55,600 a new you at least as far as that organ 576 00:21:02,070 --> 00:21:01,190 wow think of the millions of people this 577 00:21:04,549 --> 00:21:02,080 is going to affect 578 00:21:06,310 --> 00:21:04,559 this is incredible i want to thank you 579 00:21:08,789 --> 00:21:06,320 for joining us today we absolutely 580 00:21:10,549 --> 00:21:08,799 loved having you well thank you very 581 00:21:13,750 --> 00:21:10,559 much and thanks to nasa for 582 00:21:14,230 --> 00:21:13,760 sponsoring the prize absolutely as we've 583 00:21:15,830 --> 00:21:14,240 learned 584 00:21:17,669 --> 00:21:15,840 solving the challenge of engineering 585 00:21:20,149 --> 00:21:17,679 vascularized tissue can have 586 00:21:21,350 --> 00:21:20,159 far-reaching benefits for both nasa and 587 00:21:24,149 --> 00:21:21,360 the world 588 00:21:24,870 --> 00:21:24,159 let's explore more the vascular tissue 589 00:21:28,710 --> 00:21:24,880 challenge 590 00:21:31,510 --> 00:21:28,720 is pursuing the idea of creating 591 00:21:32,310 --> 00:21:31,520 a slab of tissue with its own blood 592 00:21:34,310 --> 00:21:32,320 supply 593 00:21:36,149 --> 00:21:34,320 this is going to be like a light switch 594 00:21:38,630 --> 00:21:36,159 at the moment we can make tissues but 595 00:21:39,270 --> 00:21:38,640 we're not good at vascularizing them the 596 00:21:40,950 --> 00:21:39,280 benefits 597 00:21:43,110 --> 00:21:40,960 of creating vascularized tissue are 598 00:21:45,110 --> 00:21:43,120 enormous and they're far-reaching 599 00:21:46,789 --> 00:21:45,120 it would really revolutionize and expand 600 00:21:48,470 --> 00:21:46,799 our ability to treat a multitude of 601 00:21:49,350 --> 00:21:48,480 diseases involving all the different 602 00:21:52,870 --> 00:21:49,360 organ systems 603 00:21:55,110 --> 00:21:52,880 and also for screening toxic effects of 604 00:21:56,549 --> 00:21:55,120 different drugs in the long term there's 605 00:21:58,470 --> 00:21:56,559 even the potential to create whole 606 00:22:00,070 --> 00:21:58,480 organs that could be used to transplant 607 00:22:02,149 --> 00:22:00,080 so why is this technology important to 608 00:22:03,110 --> 00:22:02,159 nasa it would open up the possibilities 609 00:22:05,029 --> 00:22:03,120 of extended space 610 00:22:06,710 --> 00:22:05,039 travel we could use them to look at the 611 00:22:08,630 --> 00:22:06,720 effect of things like gravity that could 612 00:22:10,470 --> 00:22:08,640 enable us to advance the space program 613 00:22:12,390 --> 00:22:10,480 without sending someone into deep space 614 00:22:13,990 --> 00:22:12,400 or having to recreate that environment 615 00:22:15,510 --> 00:22:14,000 in total and at the end of the day 616 00:22:16,870 --> 00:22:15,520 improve lives forever 617 00:22:19,029 --> 00:22:16,880 that's why we need something like the 618 00:22:20,710 --> 00:22:19,039 nasa centaurion challenge it can really 619 00:22:23,830 --> 00:22:20,720 change the face of medicine 620 00:22:26,070 --> 00:22:23,840 as we know it and now for the exciting 621 00:22:28,149 --> 00:22:26,080 moment we've all been waiting for here 622 00:22:29,270 --> 00:22:28,159 is nasa's associate administrator for 623 00:22:31,590 --> 00:22:29,280 space technology 624 00:22:35,430 --> 00:22:31,600 jim reuter to reveal the winner of 625 00:22:37,350 --> 00:22:35,440 nasa's vascular tissue challenge 626 00:22:38,710 --> 00:22:37,360 on behalf of nasa's space technology 627 00:22:40,789 --> 00:22:38,720 mission directorate 628 00:22:43,430 --> 00:22:40,799 the prizes challenges and crowdsourcing 629 00:22:45,029 --> 00:22:43,440 program and the entire agency 630 00:22:47,190 --> 00:22:45,039 i'd like to congratulate all of the 631 00:22:48,630 --> 00:22:47,200 participants of the vascular tissue 632 00:22:50,390 --> 00:22:48,640 challenge 633 00:22:52,149 --> 00:22:50,400 you know when we set out to open this 634 00:22:54,789 --> 00:22:52,159 challenge in 2016 635 00:22:56,070 --> 00:22:54,799 we couldn't imagine the success we'd see 636 00:22:58,549 --> 00:22:56,080 from these teams 637 00:22:59,510 --> 00:22:58,559 in fact i recall us talking about that 638 00:23:01,350 --> 00:22:59,520 this challenge 639 00:23:03,909 --> 00:23:01,360 to produce thick metabolically 640 00:23:05,270 --> 00:23:03,919 functional human vascularized tissue was 641 00:23:06,830 --> 00:23:05,280 maybe a step too far 642 00:23:09,110 --> 00:23:06,840 it could not be done in the time 643 00:23:10,549 --> 00:23:09,120 allotted but these teams have worked 644 00:23:13,110 --> 00:23:10,559 through many setbacks 645 00:23:15,029 --> 00:23:13,120 associated with a global pandemic often 646 00:23:16,230 --> 00:23:15,039 with limited or no access to the to 647 00:23:17,909 --> 00:23:16,240 their labs 648 00:23:20,230 --> 00:23:17,919 their dedication to the medical and 649 00:23:22,230 --> 00:23:20,240 space communities is an example 650 00:23:23,350 --> 00:23:22,240 of how even through adversity the 651 00:23:25,909 --> 00:23:23,360 american people 652 00:23:26,950 --> 00:23:25,919 will persevere with the ability to 653 00:23:28,870 --> 00:23:26,960 regenerate thick 654 00:23:30,630 --> 00:23:28,880 vascularized tissue we can make an 655 00:23:33,750 --> 00:23:30,640 enormous impact on earth 656 00:23:35,190 --> 00:23:33,760 and in space and so it is my pleasure 657 00:23:37,590 --> 00:23:35,200 to announce the first place winner of 658 00:23:39,270 --> 00:23:37,600 the competition team winston 659 00:23:41,430 --> 00:23:39,280 from wake forest institute for 660 00:23:43,990 --> 00:23:41,440 regenerative medicine 661 00:23:46,070 --> 00:23:44,000 team winston will receive 300 000 from 662 00:23:48,310 --> 00:23:46,080 nasa for their innovation 663 00:23:50,549 --> 00:23:48,320 additionally thanks to the iss national 664 00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:50,559 lab managed by cases 665 00:23:53,590 --> 00:23:52,240 team winston will have the opportunity 666 00:23:55,430 --> 00:23:53,600 to test their tissue 667 00:23:58,549 --> 00:23:55,440 under the effects of microgravity 668 00:24:00,470 --> 00:23:58,559 onboard the international space station 669 00:24:02,549 --> 00:24:00,480 selections for competitions like these 670 00:24:04,310 --> 00:24:02,559 couldn't happen without our judges who 671 00:24:06,470 --> 00:24:04,320 are truly experts in their field 672 00:24:08,070 --> 00:24:06,480 from across the country i'd like to 673 00:24:09,110 --> 00:24:08,080 thank each one of you for lending your 674 00:24:11,510 --> 00:24:09,120 expertise 675 00:24:13,269 --> 00:24:11,520 and for ensuring our participating teams 676 00:24:15,750 --> 00:24:13,279 successfully created tissues 677 00:24:17,430 --> 00:24:15,760 that we can use to study deep space 678 00:24:19,909 --> 00:24:17,440 environmental effects 679 00:24:21,029 --> 00:24:19,919 so again congratulations to team winston 680 00:24:22,710 --> 00:24:21,039 on your achievement 681 00:24:25,110 --> 00:24:22,720 and thank you to everyone involved in 682 00:24:30,230 --> 00:24:25,120 the competition for your contributions 683 00:24:33,430 --> 00:24:33,110 and we are here live with kelsey wilson 684 00:24:36,470 --> 00:24:33,440 from 685 00:24:37,190 --> 00:24:36,480 team winston the first place winners of 686 00:24:38,710 --> 00:24:37,200 nasa's 687 00:24:42,630 --> 00:24:38,720 vascular tissue challenge 688 00:24:44,470 --> 00:24:42,640 congratulations kelsey and team 689 00:24:46,710 --> 00:24:44,480 thank you so much for being or for 690 00:24:48,710 --> 00:24:46,720 having me on here 691 00:24:50,870 --> 00:24:48,720 it's really exciting to have you after 692 00:24:51,190 --> 00:24:50,880 all of you know all this challenge had 693 00:24:57,350 --> 00:24:51,200 to 694 00:24:57,990 --> 00:24:57,360 is vascular tissue challenge judge dr 695 00:24:59,990 --> 00:24:58,000 arun 696 00:25:01,669 --> 00:25:00,000 sharma welcome back to the show dr 697 00:25:05,029 --> 00:25:01,679 sharma 698 00:25:07,590 --> 00:25:05,039 thank you for having me okay so we've 699 00:25:11,029 --> 00:25:07,600 got lots of questions for our two guests 700 00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:11,039 um the first one is uh you're the first 701 00:25:14,230 --> 00:25:13,200 person to accomplish this task kelsey 702 00:25:15,669 --> 00:25:14,240 you and your team 703 00:25:18,710 --> 00:25:15,679 how does that feel how are you and your 704 00:25:22,230 --> 00:25:20,710 well for me personally it feels a little 705 00:25:24,149 --> 00:25:22,240 surreal 706 00:25:25,990 --> 00:25:24,159 we work on these projects for years and 707 00:25:26,710 --> 00:25:26,000 you spend hours and hours in lab but it 708 00:25:29,029 --> 00:25:26,720 is 709 00:25:30,310 --> 00:25:29,039 absolutely amazing to get something all 710 00:25:32,549 --> 00:25:30,320 the way to the point that we can 711 00:25:33,350 --> 00:25:32,559 really bring it to the public um so 712 00:25:36,070 --> 00:25:33,360 that's been 713 00:25:37,590 --> 00:25:36,080 very exciting and to be honest when i 714 00:25:39,510 --> 00:25:37,600 started grad school 715 00:25:40,630 --> 00:25:39,520 four years ago i certainly never 716 00:25:43,029 --> 00:25:40,640 imagined that i would be 717 00:25:46,470 --> 00:25:43,039 being interviewed by nasa so yeah i 718 00:25:49,990 --> 00:25:49,269 absolutely um dr sharma i understand 719 00:25:53,269 --> 00:25:50,000 this is a 720 00:25:54,950 --> 00:25:53,279 pretty remarkable accomplishment um 721 00:25:57,029 --> 00:25:54,960 having judged this competition how much 722 00:25:58,390 --> 00:25:57,039 of an achievement is it to finally have 723 00:25:59,430 --> 00:25:58,400 solved this incredible feat of 724 00:26:02,870 --> 00:25:59,440 engineering 725 00:26:04,630 --> 00:26:02,880 uh functional human tissue 726 00:26:06,710 --> 00:26:04,640 it's a tremendous tremendous 727 00:26:09,830 --> 00:26:06,720 accomplishment it's um 728 00:26:10,230 --> 00:26:09,840 not easy to create a portion of tissue 729 00:26:12,630 --> 00:26:10,240 that 730 00:26:14,230 --> 00:26:12,640 contains blood vessels is able to 731 00:26:16,630 --> 00:26:14,240 survive for a month 732 00:26:18,789 --> 00:26:16,640 and is still able to be functional just 733 00:26:20,549 --> 00:26:18,799 meeting one of those criteria would be 734 00:26:22,310 --> 00:26:20,559 an accomplishment but the fact that 735 00:26:25,110 --> 00:26:22,320 kelsey and her team were able to 736 00:26:27,830 --> 00:26:25,120 meet all three criteria is is absolutely 737 00:26:31,750 --> 00:26:30,070 kelsey tell us about the winning tissue 738 00:26:33,830 --> 00:26:31,760 sample and the approach that you 739 00:26:35,830 --> 00:26:33,840 and your team took to solving this 740 00:26:37,990 --> 00:26:35,840 problem 741 00:26:39,909 --> 00:26:38,000 of course well we started out with some 742 00:26:41,830 --> 00:26:39,919 of the criteria that was laid out by 743 00:26:43,830 --> 00:26:41,840 nasa and the methuselah foundation 744 00:26:45,430 --> 00:26:43,840 um really starting with it needed to be 745 00:26:46,870 --> 00:26:45,440 a centimeter in each direction to make 746 00:26:48,149 --> 00:26:46,880 it really large and something that we 747 00:26:50,710 --> 00:26:48,159 could potentially use 748 00:26:52,710 --> 00:26:50,720 you know for studying whole organs and 749 00:26:54,070 --> 00:26:52,720 then we took a pretty stepwise approach 750 00:26:56,230 --> 00:26:54,080 we looked at 751 00:26:57,590 --> 00:26:56,240 what shape would be the best for getting 752 00:26:59,430 --> 00:26:57,600 fluid flow 753 00:27:00,789 --> 00:26:59,440 all the way through the samples and for 754 00:27:02,470 --> 00:27:00,799 getting nutrients in and out of it and 755 00:27:04,149 --> 00:27:02,480 settled on a gyroid shape 756 00:27:05,750 --> 00:27:04,159 which is a series of interconnecting 757 00:27:07,669 --> 00:27:05,760 wave-like tubes 758 00:27:09,350 --> 00:27:07,679 and then we looked at the best gel for 759 00:27:11,110 --> 00:27:09,360 allowing ourselves to really grow and 760 00:27:13,110 --> 00:27:11,120 expand and communicate with each other 761 00:27:14,630 --> 00:27:13,120 which ended up being a modified gelatin 762 00:27:17,029 --> 00:27:14,640 sort of similar to what you might make 763 00:27:19,510 --> 00:27:17,039 jello out of at home in your kitchen 764 00:27:21,350 --> 00:27:19,520 and then building a circulation system 765 00:27:22,870 --> 00:27:21,360 that we could get fluid flow through and 766 00:27:24,630 --> 00:27:22,880 you know really allow these samples to 767 00:27:27,350 --> 00:27:24,640 be perfused in a way similar to what you 768 00:27:29,510 --> 00:27:27,360 see in the human body 769 00:27:33,110 --> 00:27:29,520 that is a use of jello that i never 770 00:27:34,630 --> 00:27:33,120 thought would be applied in this context 771 00:27:36,789 --> 00:27:34,640 dr sharma you've been a judge for this 772 00:27:39,190 --> 00:27:36,799 challenge for nearly five years now 773 00:27:40,630 --> 00:27:39,200 uh in addition to the work that you do 774 00:27:41,590 --> 00:27:40,640 what do you get out of judging this 775 00:27:45,350 --> 00:27:41,600 competition both 776 00:27:48,230 --> 00:27:45,360 professionally but also personally 777 00:27:49,909 --> 00:27:48,240 right so personally it's very gratifying 778 00:27:52,389 --> 00:27:49,919 to see the incredibly 779 00:27:53,990 --> 00:27:52,399 talented young minds around the country 780 00:27:57,110 --> 00:27:54,000 coming together to address 781 00:27:58,870 --> 00:27:57,120 this very unique problem so it's it's 782 00:28:01,110 --> 00:27:58,880 tremendous from the perspective of the 783 00:28:02,549 --> 00:28:01,120 judge to see all of the unique solutions 784 00:28:04,149 --> 00:28:02,559 that the different teams 785 00:28:06,389 --> 00:28:04,159 have come up with to actually address 786 00:28:08,070 --> 00:28:06,399 some of these concerns when it comes to 787 00:28:09,269 --> 00:28:08,080 tissue functionality and tissue 788 00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:09,279 vascularization 789 00:28:13,190 --> 00:28:11,360 but if we're talking about the long-term 790 00:28:13,669 --> 00:28:13,200 medical applications something like this 791 00:28:17,590 --> 00:28:13,679 is 792 00:28:19,510 --> 00:28:17,600 perhaps some of these vascularized 793 00:28:21,669 --> 00:28:19,520 tissues may be able to serve 794 00:28:22,789 --> 00:28:21,679 as replacement tissues for tissues that 795 00:28:25,269 --> 00:28:22,799 are lost due to 796 00:28:27,190 --> 00:28:25,279 injury or disease so this is a 797 00:28:28,950 --> 00:28:27,200 critically important challenge and again 798 00:28:29,430 --> 00:28:28,960 i wanted to congratulate kelsey and her 799 00:28:33,830 --> 00:28:29,440 team 800 00:28:36,230 --> 00:28:33,840 tremendous work 801 00:28:37,350 --> 00:28:36,240 indeed um kelsey what was it like to 802 00:28:39,909 --> 00:28:37,360 work with nasa 803 00:28:42,470 --> 00:28:39,919 and would you recommend that experience 804 00:28:44,870 --> 00:28:42,480 to others 805 00:28:45,510 --> 00:28:44,880 absolutely i think nasa was incredible 806 00:28:48,470 --> 00:28:45,520 through this 807 00:28:50,230 --> 00:28:48,480 um not only was this a scientifically 808 00:28:52,789 --> 00:28:50,240 difficult challenge to work around 809 00:28:53,909 --> 00:28:52,799 but also i mean with covet in particular 810 00:28:54,789 --> 00:28:53,919 we had quite a few technical 811 00:28:56,710 --> 00:28:54,799 difficulties 812 00:28:58,310 --> 00:28:56,720 uh the judging committee for example 813 00:29:00,149 --> 00:28:58,320 couldn't come out and follow us around 814 00:29:02,230 --> 00:29:00,159 labs so we had to do that all 815 00:29:03,590 --> 00:29:02,240 over zoom and they were absolutely 816 00:29:05,110 --> 00:29:03,600 wonderful 817 00:29:06,549 --> 00:29:05,120 helping us both along with the 818 00:29:08,470 --> 00:29:06,559 scientific challenges that we came up 819 00:29:10,830 --> 00:29:08,480 against but then also 820 00:29:14,310 --> 00:29:10,840 certain technical hurdles that we had to 821 00:29:18,310 --> 00:29:16,549 uh yeah a covet alone would have been a 822 00:29:19,750 --> 00:29:18,320 serious hurdle but everything else you 823 00:29:21,029 --> 00:29:19,760 know on top of that makes it an 824 00:29:22,870 --> 00:29:21,039 incredible feat 825 00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:22,880 what's next for your team you know do 826 00:29:26,549 --> 00:29:25,120 you get a break now is this sort of 827 00:29:28,710 --> 00:29:26,559 you know the only thing you were working 828 00:29:30,870 --> 00:29:28,720 on what's up with your with your lab 829 00:29:32,230 --> 00:29:30,880 after this 830 00:29:34,389 --> 00:29:32,240 well for those of you who aren't in 831 00:29:35,830 --> 00:29:34,399 research it's pretty rare for any one of 832 00:29:37,510 --> 00:29:35,840 us not to have a couple different 833 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:37,520 projects going so 834 00:29:41,510 --> 00:29:40,480 i know that the team a is continuing 835 00:29:43,190 --> 00:29:41,520 this work and 836 00:29:44,950 --> 00:29:43,200 you know gets to send it up into space 837 00:29:47,269 --> 00:29:44,960 which is very exciting 838 00:29:48,389 --> 00:29:47,279 um but one of the other major members of 839 00:29:50,310 --> 00:29:48,399 this dr moon 840 00:29:52,389 --> 00:29:50,320 is working on taking this gyroid and 841 00:29:54,389 --> 00:29:52,399 applying it to neural tissue to look at 842 00:29:55,990 --> 00:29:54,399 possibly developing a blood brain 843 00:29:58,149 --> 00:29:56,000 barrier prototype 844 00:29:59,830 --> 00:29:58,159 and i myself am going to be able to 845 00:30:01,750 --> 00:29:59,840 spend a little bit more time focusing on 846 00:30:02,230 --> 00:30:01,760 some of my work developing 3d printed 847 00:30:05,190 --> 00:30:02,240 skin 848 00:30:08,149 --> 00:30:05,200 and adding hair follicles into it so a 849 00:30:11,350 --> 00:30:08,159 lot of different projects 850 00:30:12,549 --> 00:30:11,360 it sounds like it that is incredible um 851 00:30:14,710 --> 00:30:12,559 this question i think would be 852 00:30:17,510 --> 00:30:14,720 interesting coming from both of you 853 00:30:18,470 --> 00:30:17,520 not every uh team took the same approach 854 00:30:20,549 --> 00:30:18,480 obviously 855 00:30:21,750 --> 00:30:20,559 um there were many ways to solve this 856 00:30:23,830 --> 00:30:21,760 challenge uh 857 00:30:24,789 --> 00:30:23,840 i mean could you talk a little bit about 858 00:30:27,830 --> 00:30:24,799 that what you did 859 00:30:30,149 --> 00:30:27,840 kelsey i mean because you were on the 860 00:30:31,350 --> 00:30:30,159 winning team and the second place team 861 00:30:33,269 --> 00:30:31,360 and our judge here 862 00:30:36,070 --> 00:30:33,279 probably saw many approaches as well so 863 00:30:36,789 --> 00:30:36,080 kelsey if you could take that first well 864 00:30:39,350 --> 00:30:36,799 of course 865 00:30:41,269 --> 00:30:39,360 um as you just said we actually had two 866 00:30:43,830 --> 00:30:41,279 different teams working on this at wake 867 00:30:44,870 --> 00:30:43,840 and we both took very different 868 00:30:46,310 --> 00:30:44,880 approaches to it 869 00:30:48,310 --> 00:30:46,320 even though we were using bio printing 870 00:30:49,750 --> 00:30:48,320 we used we used two different types of 871 00:30:51,430 --> 00:30:49,760 bio printing 872 00:30:53,110 --> 00:30:51,440 came up with structures that looked very 873 00:30:55,510 --> 00:30:53,120 different despite the fact that they 874 00:30:57,110 --> 00:30:55,520 both met the challenge requirements so 875 00:30:59,430 --> 00:30:57,120 you know even within the institute we 876 00:31:01,669 --> 00:30:59,440 had multiple ways of attempting 877 00:31:03,029 --> 00:31:01,679 this and i can't wait to see what the 878 00:31:06,230 --> 00:31:03,039 other groups came up with because 879 00:31:07,750 --> 00:31:06,240 i assume that they are outside of my 880 00:31:11,029 --> 00:31:07,760 imagination and 881 00:31:12,950 --> 00:31:11,039 probably just wonderful 882 00:31:15,430 --> 00:31:12,960 absolutely you're totally right kelsey 883 00:31:18,230 --> 00:31:15,440 and as a judge i've had an inside look 884 00:31:20,070 --> 00:31:18,240 into what teams around the country have 885 00:31:20,710 --> 00:31:20,080 been able to do and it's astounding 886 00:31:22,310 --> 00:31:20,720 really 887 00:31:24,630 --> 00:31:22,320 all these exceptionally talented 888 00:31:26,230 --> 00:31:24,640 bioengineers have utilized a number of 889 00:31:27,590 --> 00:31:26,240 different approaches including 3d 890 00:31:30,070 --> 00:31:27,600 printing for example 891 00:31:32,310 --> 00:31:30,080 to create custom tissues that have a 892 00:31:32,870 --> 00:31:32,320 variety of different cell types we had 893 00:31:35,830 --> 00:31:32,880 teams 894 00:31:36,870 --> 00:31:35,840 utilizing liver tissue heart tissue and 895 00:31:39,190 --> 00:31:36,880 so on 896 00:31:41,590 --> 00:31:39,200 and it the end the possibilities are 897 00:31:43,110 --> 00:31:41,600 really endless as to how the cell types 898 00:31:45,669 --> 00:31:43,120 can be properly as 899 00:31:49,430 --> 00:31:45,679 integrated and intersected with the 900 00:31:52,710 --> 00:31:51,269 and actually i'd like to piggyback off 901 00:31:55,830 --> 00:31:52,720 of that what did 902 00:31:57,750 --> 00:31:55,840 it take for the uh for a team to win 903 00:31:59,110 --> 00:31:57,760 this challenge dr charlemage what 904 00:32:05,669 --> 00:31:59,120 basically 905 00:32:07,669 --> 00:32:05,679 about kelsey's team 906 00:32:09,509 --> 00:32:07,679 right so kelsey's team was the first 907 00:32:11,830 --> 00:32:09,519 team to successfully meet 908 00:32:13,669 --> 00:32:11,840 multiple criteria that are associated 909 00:32:15,909 --> 00:32:13,679 with the success of this challenge 910 00:32:17,430 --> 00:32:15,919 as i alluded to this was a very 911 00:32:18,549 --> 00:32:17,440 difficult challenge in the first place 912 00:32:20,549 --> 00:32:18,559 but the fact that you had to meet 913 00:32:21,509 --> 00:32:20,559 multiple criteria made it even more 914 00:32:23,990 --> 00:32:21,519 challenging 915 00:32:25,990 --> 00:32:24,000 so one criteria was functionality the 916 00:32:27,909 --> 00:32:26,000 tissues that were actually developed 917 00:32:29,029 --> 00:32:27,919 have to be functional for an extended 918 00:32:31,190 --> 00:32:29,039 period of time in 919 00:32:33,350 --> 00:32:31,200 one month in particular also these 920 00:32:34,950 --> 00:32:33,360 tissues have to be vascularized so they 921 00:32:37,590 --> 00:32:34,960 have to contain the cells 922 00:32:39,269 --> 00:32:37,600 that line the blood vessels in the body 923 00:32:40,830 --> 00:32:39,279 and they have to survive they have to 924 00:32:43,430 --> 00:32:40,840 appropriately survive 925 00:32:43,830 --> 00:32:43,440 long-term again our timeline was at 926 00:32:46,149 --> 00:32:43,840 least 927 00:32:48,070 --> 00:32:46,159 one month and kelsey's team was the 928 00:32:50,230 --> 00:32:48,080 first to accomplish 929 00:32:51,430 --> 00:32:50,240 these these tasks and to meet these 930 00:32:53,750 --> 00:32:51,440 criteria so 931 00:32:58,070 --> 00:32:53,760 an exceptionally challenging task but 932 00:33:01,590 --> 00:33:00,149 yeah i'm curious this is we've been 933 00:33:03,990 --> 00:33:01,600 talking about how challenging 934 00:33:05,509 --> 00:33:04,000 something like this is what that and 935 00:33:06,389 --> 00:33:05,519 this is a question i'd like to ask of 936 00:33:08,630 --> 00:33:06,399 you both 937 00:33:10,630 --> 00:33:08,640 what motivates you to do this kind of 938 00:33:11,269 --> 00:33:10,640 work you know kelsey you and your team 939 00:33:13,909 --> 00:33:11,279 and then dr 940 00:33:15,669 --> 00:33:13,919 sharma you judging but also the work you 941 00:33:17,269 --> 00:33:15,679 do outside of judging what what 942 00:33:21,509 --> 00:33:17,279 motivates you to do this 943 00:33:26,230 --> 00:33:24,149 well i think that there's you know a lot 944 00:33:28,789 --> 00:33:26,240 of different motivating factors 945 00:33:30,070 --> 00:33:28,799 i know for me personally some of this is 946 00:33:32,789 --> 00:33:30,080 getting to be able 947 00:33:33,509 --> 00:33:32,799 to have something that will really help 948 00:33:35,669 --> 00:33:33,519 the 949 00:33:36,549 --> 00:33:35,679 research community you know be able to 950 00:33:38,710 --> 00:33:36,559 study 951 00:33:40,470 --> 00:33:38,720 diseases and different disease states 952 00:33:41,509 --> 00:33:40,480 and even healthy systems and maybe be 953 00:33:42,870 --> 00:33:41,519 able to come up with something that we 954 00:33:45,029 --> 00:33:42,880 can use to 955 00:33:46,230 --> 00:33:45,039 test different medicines on rather than 956 00:33:49,509 --> 00:33:46,240 having to go 957 00:33:52,389 --> 00:33:49,519 to animal or straight to human testing 958 00:33:53,110 --> 00:33:52,399 but also it gives a really unique 959 00:33:55,750 --> 00:33:53,120 perspective 960 00:33:58,230 --> 00:33:55,760 into a building block that as has been 961 00:33:59,990 --> 00:33:58,240 talked about earlier in this segment 962 00:34:02,470 --> 00:34:00,000 i'm really hopeful can eventually come 963 00:34:03,190 --> 00:34:02,480 up with whole organs that can be used 964 00:34:05,350 --> 00:34:03,200 for 965 00:34:08,389 --> 00:34:05,360 you know organ replacement in the future 966 00:34:12,710 --> 00:34:10,710 yeah i agree with the kelsey absolutely 967 00:34:15,430 --> 00:34:12,720 building blocks for the next step 968 00:34:16,950 --> 00:34:15,440 um i think the hope ultimately the hope 969 00:34:18,310 --> 00:34:16,960 in this field in regenerative medicine 970 00:34:20,629 --> 00:34:18,320 and bioengineering 971 00:34:22,069 --> 00:34:20,639 is to design pieces of tissues that may 972 00:34:24,389 --> 00:34:22,079 be able to one day 973 00:34:26,629 --> 00:34:24,399 replace tissues that are damaged or 974 00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:26,639 injured i think it's a dream and it's a 975 00:34:30,869 --> 00:34:28,320 it's something that can 976 00:34:34,149 --> 00:34:30,879 positively benefit the lives of millions 977 00:34:36,950 --> 00:34:34,159 of people around the world 978 00:34:38,710 --> 00:34:36,960 that's incredibly exciting um and what 979 00:34:39,270 --> 00:34:38,720 else is really exciting is that i 980 00:34:42,230 --> 00:34:39,280 understand 981 00:34:43,829 --> 00:34:42,240 kelsey your sample will fly to the iss 982 00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:43,839 for further testing 983 00:34:47,430 --> 00:34:46,320 so what are you hoping to gain from from 984 00:34:51,430 --> 00:34:47,440 testing 985 00:34:55,270 --> 00:34:52,869 well i think the first thing we're 986 00:34:57,670 --> 00:34:55,280 really hoping to look at is 987 00:34:59,670 --> 00:34:57,680 how space affects this i mean we know 988 00:35:01,829 --> 00:34:59,680 that humans react differently 989 00:35:04,470 --> 00:35:01,839 in space conditions than they do here on 990 00:35:08,069 --> 00:35:04,480 earth and there's been a lot of tests 991 00:35:10,790 --> 00:35:08,079 as dr sharma has talked about looking at 992 00:35:11,270 --> 00:35:10,800 cells being grown in microgravity and 993 00:35:13,349 --> 00:35:11,280 under 994 00:35:14,829 --> 00:35:13,359 you know other space conditions 995 00:35:17,990 --> 00:35:14,839 including 996 00:35:20,230 --> 00:35:18,000 radioactivity but those 997 00:35:22,630 --> 00:35:20,240 have confounding factors they aren't fed 998 00:35:23,750 --> 00:35:22,640 via flow they're in a static media 999 00:35:26,310 --> 00:35:23,760 culture and 1000 00:35:27,349 --> 00:35:26,320 that microgravity system has been shown 1001 00:35:29,190 --> 00:35:27,359 to change 1002 00:35:30,870 --> 00:35:29,200 how much oxygen they're able to get into 1003 00:35:32,630 --> 00:35:30,880 that culture and it will be 1004 00:35:34,470 --> 00:35:32,640 you know personally very interesting to 1005 00:35:37,589 --> 00:35:34,480 look at 1006 00:35:40,390 --> 00:35:37,599 how the space 1007 00:35:41,589 --> 00:35:40,400 environment actually ends up affecting a 1008 00:35:45,190 --> 00:35:41,599 system that's fed 1009 00:35:47,510 --> 00:35:45,200 in a physiological manner 1010 00:35:49,670 --> 00:35:47,520 and dr sharma as someone who has done 1011 00:35:51,109 --> 00:35:49,680 research in this in the past on this i 1012 00:35:52,710 --> 00:35:51,119 would love to get your take on that as 1013 00:35:54,950 --> 00:35:52,720 well 1014 00:35:57,109 --> 00:35:54,960 certainly um so as i alluded to 1015 00:35:59,349 --> 00:35:57,119 previously the work that i've done is in 1016 00:36:00,550 --> 00:35:59,359 dimensional cell cultures so cells grown 1017 00:36:03,190 --> 00:36:00,560 in in 2d 1018 00:36:04,710 --> 00:36:03,200 and really the human body functions in 1019 00:36:06,310 --> 00:36:04,720 three dimensions right so that's part of 1020 00:36:08,630 --> 00:36:06,320 the reason why this challenge is 1021 00:36:10,710 --> 00:36:08,640 so exciting we want to be able to create 1022 00:36:11,910 --> 00:36:10,720 better models of how the human body is 1023 00:36:12,550 --> 00:36:11,920 actually going to function in low 1024 00:36:15,109 --> 00:36:12,560 gravity 1025 00:36:16,870 --> 00:36:15,119 during extended space flight so a 1026 00:36:17,510 --> 00:36:16,880 three-dimensional tissue will be able to 1027 00:36:20,230 --> 00:36:17,520 better 1028 00:36:21,349 --> 00:36:20,240 tell us about exactly that the impacts 1029 00:36:24,230 --> 00:36:21,359 of low gravity 1030 00:36:25,430 --> 00:36:24,240 on the human body in addition the 1031 00:36:27,910 --> 00:36:25,440 international space station 1032 00:36:28,950 --> 00:36:27,920 as a research laboratory is largely for 1033 00:36:31,510 --> 00:36:28,960 the benefit for 1034 00:36:32,470 --> 00:36:31,520 those of us here on the earth so we want 1035 00:36:34,790 --> 00:36:32,480 to 1036 00:36:36,310 --> 00:36:34,800 model some of these phenomena such as 1037 00:36:39,430 --> 00:36:36,320 accelerated aging 1038 00:36:42,550 --> 00:36:39,440 because in in a lot of senses in 1039 00:36:43,670 --> 00:36:42,560 in a significant way the phenomena that 1040 00:36:46,150 --> 00:36:43,680 you see 1041 00:36:48,230 --> 00:36:46,160 in low gravity during space flight is a 1042 00:36:49,109 --> 00:36:48,240 form of accelerated aging the bones of 1043 00:36:51,430 --> 00:36:49,119 the body 1044 00:36:53,030 --> 00:36:51,440 are deteriorating at a slightly faster 1045 00:36:55,190 --> 00:36:53,040 rate the muscles as well 1046 00:36:57,270 --> 00:36:55,200 and so what we learned from these 1047 00:36:59,349 --> 00:36:57,280 studies of in vitro models and 1048 00:37:02,150 --> 00:36:59,359 three-dimensional 3d printed models 1049 00:37:03,510 --> 00:37:02,160 will help us better understand aging 1050 00:37:06,069 --> 00:37:03,520 something that we're all going through 1051 00:37:09,829 --> 00:37:06,079 here on earth 1052 00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:09,839 yes 100 percent um i'm not the only one 1053 00:37:13,270 --> 00:37:11,280 asking questions here 1054 00:37:14,630 --> 00:37:13,280 uh all of you have been asking questions 1055 00:37:16,710 --> 00:37:14,640 online since the beginning of this 1056 00:37:18,550 --> 00:37:16,720 episode so let's get to those 1057 00:37:20,230 --> 00:37:18,560 um don't forget you can ask your 1058 00:37:23,109 --> 00:37:20,240 questions by using the hashtag 1059 00:37:24,150 --> 00:37:23,119 ask nasa or by writing in the comment 1060 00:37:27,190 --> 00:37:24,160 box wherever 1061 00:37:30,310 --> 00:37:27,200 you are watching this okay so our first 1062 00:37:31,030 --> 00:37:30,320 question is from spacegirl123 that's 1063 00:37:34,230 --> 00:37:31,040 cute 1064 00:37:37,030 --> 00:37:34,240 on twitter and she asks why is nasa 1065 00:37:38,310 --> 00:37:37,040 interested in engineering human tissue 1066 00:37:40,870 --> 00:37:38,320 everyone why don't we throw that one to 1067 00:37:44,630 --> 00:37:43,349 surely absolutely um and just like i 1068 00:37:46,069 --> 00:37:44,640 alluded to 1069 00:37:48,310 --> 00:37:46,079 nasa is really interested in this 1070 00:37:51,990 --> 00:37:48,320 because we want to understand 1071 00:37:55,270 --> 00:37:52,000 ways that this tissue can perhaps 1072 00:37:58,710 --> 00:37:55,280 improve the functionality of tissues 1073 00:37:59,510 --> 00:37:58,720 on the planet so we perhaps this tissue 1074 00:38:01,910 --> 00:37:59,520 will be 1075 00:38:03,670 --> 00:38:01,920 better more functional in a microgravity 1076 00:38:04,069 --> 00:38:03,680 environment that'll tell us more about 1077 00:38:06,069 --> 00:38:04,079 how 1078 00:38:08,230 --> 00:38:06,079 we might be able to utilize this tissue 1079 00:38:10,790 --> 00:38:08,240 for those downstream applications 1080 00:38:11,990 --> 00:38:10,800 of cell therapy cell replacement tissue 1081 00:38:13,430 --> 00:38:12,000 replacement 1082 00:38:15,270 --> 00:38:13,440 i think there's a lot we don't 1083 00:38:15,910 --> 00:38:15,280 understand about the microgravity 1084 00:38:18,470 --> 00:38:15,920 environment 1085 00:38:20,950 --> 00:38:18,480 and its impact on the human body and 1086 00:38:22,790 --> 00:38:20,960 importantly we want to figure out 1087 00:38:24,310 --> 00:38:22,800 the beneficial effects that microgravity 1088 00:38:28,390 --> 00:38:24,320 might be able to have on 1089 00:38:32,390 --> 00:38:28,400 human tissue function that makes sense 1090 00:38:33,990 --> 00:38:32,400 um moho gamer on youtube asks if we can 1091 00:38:35,510 --> 00:38:34,000 find a way to make these types of 1092 00:38:37,829 --> 00:38:35,520 tissues will it be 1093 00:38:39,270 --> 00:38:37,839 able to create organs so can i think 1094 00:38:39,750 --> 00:38:39,280 kelsey talked a little bit about this 1095 00:38:41,510 --> 00:38:39,760 but the 1096 00:38:43,270 --> 00:38:41,520 i think the idea here is can we create 1097 00:38:46,470 --> 00:38:43,280 an entire organ 1098 00:38:50,710 --> 00:38:46,480 kelsey do you want to take that one sure 1099 00:38:51,510 --> 00:38:50,720 well eventually i i won't say that we're 1100 00:38:54,150 --> 00:38:51,520 going to 1101 00:38:55,990 --> 00:38:54,160 to create a liver in lab next month um 1102 00:38:57,430 --> 00:38:56,000 that might be a little far out for us 1103 00:38:59,270 --> 00:38:57,440 there are there are several things that 1104 00:39:00,150 --> 00:38:59,280 need to be optimized before then 1105 00:39:02,950 --> 00:39:00,160 including 1106 00:39:03,990 --> 00:39:02,960 for example how do we get enough cells 1107 00:39:07,030 --> 00:39:04,000 to be able to 1108 00:39:07,510 --> 00:39:07,040 print something that large growing cells 1109 00:39:11,109 --> 00:39:07,520 is 1110 00:39:14,310 --> 00:39:11,119 overcome 1111 00:39:18,470 --> 00:39:14,320 next potential nasa challenge um 1112 00:39:20,950 --> 00:39:18,480 but um it certainly is a first step 1113 00:39:21,589 --> 00:39:20,960 and one of the next goals is taking this 1114 00:39:23,349 --> 00:39:21,599 and 1115 00:39:25,589 --> 00:39:23,359 possibly moving on to something bigger 1116 00:39:28,790 --> 00:39:25,599 than a centimeter 1117 00:39:30,710 --> 00:39:28,800 so arun did you have anything to add to 1118 00:39:32,710 --> 00:39:30,720 that 1119 00:39:34,470 --> 00:39:32,720 yeah i'll echo what kelsey just said i 1120 00:39:37,430 --> 00:39:34,480 mean a lot of what we've done here 1121 00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:37,440 is incremental but extremely important 1122 00:39:41,109 --> 00:39:39,520 uh the next step is to make these 1123 00:39:42,870 --> 00:39:41,119 tissues even bigger and better 1124 00:39:44,630 --> 00:39:42,880 larger than one cubic centimeter as 1125 00:39:46,870 --> 00:39:44,640 kelsey had mentioned if 1126 00:39:48,550 --> 00:39:46,880 the organs of the body are of course 1127 00:39:50,870 --> 00:39:48,560 larger than that for the most part 1128 00:39:51,829 --> 00:39:50,880 i think it'd be a dream to perfectly 1129 00:39:54,950 --> 00:39:51,839 replicate 1130 00:39:55,430 --> 00:39:54,960 a truly adult human organ outside of the 1131 00:39:57,510 --> 00:39:55,440 body 1132 00:40:01,349 --> 00:39:57,520 we're not quite there yet but down the 1133 00:40:05,270 --> 00:40:04,790 so sami on facebook asks why did you 1134 00:40:07,270 --> 00:40:05,280 choose 1135 00:40:08,950 --> 00:40:07,280 liver cells and i'll throw that one to 1136 00:40:10,470 --> 00:40:08,960 kelsea and actually i'm very interested 1137 00:40:14,390 --> 00:40:10,480 in the answer to that as well 1138 00:40:15,349 --> 00:40:14,400 why liver cells well there was a lot of 1139 00:40:17,430 --> 00:40:15,359 talk between 1140 00:40:19,829 --> 00:40:17,440 the different samples that we could look 1141 00:40:23,109 --> 00:40:19,839 at nasa and the methuselah foundation 1142 00:40:25,190 --> 00:40:23,119 had outlined five of the major different 1143 00:40:27,349 --> 00:40:25,200 organ types that they would like groups 1144 00:40:30,630 --> 00:40:27,359 to look at including 1145 00:40:33,829 --> 00:40:30,640 liver kidney skeletal muscle 1146 00:40:35,750 --> 00:40:33,839 heart muscle and lung 1147 00:40:37,270 --> 00:40:35,760 and i think one of the reasons we wanted 1148 00:40:40,710 --> 00:40:37,280 to look at liver is 1149 00:40:42,069 --> 00:40:40,720 it is a a large solid organ which means 1150 00:40:45,190 --> 00:40:42,079 that you can 1151 00:40:48,550 --> 00:40:45,200 sort of develop it with relatively 1152 00:40:48,950 --> 00:40:48,560 few really tiny components that you have 1153 00:40:50,069 --> 00:40:48,960 to 1154 00:40:51,430 --> 00:40:50,079 get in there i mean with lung for 1155 00:40:52,950 --> 00:40:51,440 example you have to build in an air 1156 00:40:54,309 --> 00:40:52,960 liquid interface with 1157 00:40:57,349 --> 00:40:54,319 cardiac muscle you need to make sure 1158 00:40:59,910 --> 00:40:57,359 that you can electrically stimulate it 1159 00:41:00,870 --> 00:40:59,920 and so liver kind of acts as a first 1160 00:41:02,710 --> 00:41:00,880 step 1161 00:41:03,990 --> 00:41:02,720 towards being able to move to some of 1162 00:41:06,470 --> 00:41:04,000 these that might have more 1163 00:41:07,910 --> 00:41:06,480 cellularly complex systems while still 1164 00:41:09,670 --> 00:41:07,920 being something that's critically 1165 00:41:11,430 --> 00:41:09,680 important i mean liver failure in our 1166 00:41:13,589 --> 00:41:11,440 country is 1167 00:41:15,270 --> 00:41:13,599 devastating to many many people and so 1168 00:41:17,109 --> 00:41:15,280 it's it's an important step 1169 00:41:21,190 --> 00:41:17,119 and also sets us up for being able to 1170 00:41:23,430 --> 00:41:21,200 succeed with more complicated structures 1171 00:41:24,710 --> 00:41:23,440 our bodies are just amazing it's 1172 00:41:26,150 --> 00:41:24,720 incredible 1173 00:41:28,069 --> 00:41:26,160 i think this would be a good question 1174 00:41:31,750 --> 00:41:28,079 for dr sharma 1175 00:41:33,589 --> 00:41:31,760 hayden ravenscroft on youtube asks 1176 00:41:35,829 --> 00:41:33,599 are there any experiments running on the 1177 00:41:41,670 --> 00:41:35,839 iss or in space 1178 00:41:47,990 --> 00:41:44,950 so right now there 1179 00:41:50,150 --> 00:41:48,000 are not as far as i know there aren't 1180 00:41:52,390 --> 00:41:50,160 any vascularized tissue experiments 1181 00:41:52,870 --> 00:41:52,400 running on station currently but that 1182 00:41:55,430 --> 00:41:52,880 may 1183 00:41:57,030 --> 00:41:55,440 change very soon thanks to the 1184 00:41:58,790 --> 00:41:57,040 tremendous work of kelsey and her 1185 00:42:00,710 --> 00:41:58,800 colleagues 1186 00:42:02,950 --> 00:42:00,720 in most of the work that has been done 1187 00:42:04,630 --> 00:42:02,960 on station has been either in animal 1188 00:42:07,829 --> 00:42:04,640 models or in two dimensional 1189 00:42:09,510 --> 00:42:07,839 cell culture systems and some organ chip 1190 00:42:12,230 --> 00:42:09,520 related systems as well 1191 00:42:15,349 --> 00:42:12,240 three-dimensional vascularized tissue 1192 00:42:17,750 --> 00:42:15,359 for one is very difficult to create so 1193 00:42:18,390 --> 00:42:17,760 this particular challenge was addressing 1194 00:42:19,829 --> 00:42:18,400 that 1195 00:42:21,750 --> 00:42:19,839 can we actually make something like this 1196 00:42:22,630 --> 00:42:21,760 in the first place and the next step of 1197 00:42:24,870 --> 00:42:22,640 this will be 1198 00:42:26,790 --> 00:42:24,880 yes transporting it to the station and 1199 00:42:28,829 --> 00:42:26,800 really utilizing it as an appropriate 1200 00:42:31,750 --> 00:42:28,839 model to study the function of the human 1201 00:42:33,270 --> 00:42:31,760 body 1202 00:42:35,030 --> 00:42:33,280 so we talked a little bit about this 1203 00:42:37,510 --> 00:42:35,040 before kelsey but how did 1204 00:42:38,790 --> 00:42:37,520 covid impact your team's participation 1205 00:42:40,550 --> 00:42:38,800 in the challenge did it 1206 00:42:42,230 --> 00:42:40,560 extend the timeline i know you said 1207 00:42:42,870 --> 00:42:42,240 before that the judges couldn't come out 1208 00:42:45,990 --> 00:42:42,880 and actually 1209 00:42:46,630 --> 00:42:46,000 look at the sample how uh how else did 1210 00:42:48,950 --> 00:42:46,640 your team 1211 00:42:51,750 --> 00:42:48,960 sort of overcome this unprecedented 1212 00:42:55,510 --> 00:42:53,750 well kovic was quite a hurdle i mean 1213 00:42:57,030 --> 00:42:55,520 they actually shut down the lab for 1214 00:42:58,470 --> 00:42:57,040 several months and wouldn't let any of 1215 00:43:00,470 --> 00:42:58,480 us show up although 1216 00:43:02,630 --> 00:43:00,480 i know a few of us may have snuck in 1217 00:43:04,390 --> 00:43:02,640 when we weren't supposed to be there 1218 00:43:06,870 --> 00:43:04,400 it's very hard to let go of research 1219 00:43:10,950 --> 00:43:06,880 that you've spent years working on 1220 00:43:12,470 --> 00:43:10,960 because of outside problems 1221 00:43:14,550 --> 00:43:12,480 i think it gave us a little bit more 1222 00:43:16,390 --> 00:43:14,560 time to plan what our 1223 00:43:18,470 --> 00:43:16,400 you know final judged experiment would 1224 00:43:18,870 --> 00:43:18,480 be like i i know that what you're seeing 1225 00:43:20,950 --> 00:43:18,880 here 1226 00:43:22,470 --> 00:43:20,960 is is one experiment that worked really 1227 00:43:25,670 --> 00:43:22,480 well but this was 1228 00:43:26,150 --> 00:43:25,680 years of progressive failure leading up 1229 00:43:29,109 --> 00:43:26,160 to it 1230 00:43:29,750 --> 00:43:29,119 and you know learning from what didn't 1231 00:43:31,430 --> 00:43:29,760 work well 1232 00:43:33,510 --> 00:43:31,440 to to move forward and so it gave us 1233 00:43:34,630 --> 00:43:33,520 some time to sort of synthesize all of 1234 00:43:38,790 --> 00:43:34,640 that together and 1235 00:43:40,470 --> 00:43:38,800 come up with really how we wanted to 1236 00:43:43,190 --> 00:43:40,480 try to put this all together into a real 1237 00:43:44,790 --> 00:43:43,200 working project 1238 00:43:46,710 --> 00:43:44,800 yeah i think you raise a really 1239 00:43:47,510 --> 00:43:46,720 excellent point we we spoke a little bit 1240 00:43:49,589 --> 00:43:47,520 about this with 1241 00:43:50,630 --> 00:43:49,599 dr sharma where you know just like five 1242 00:43:52,230 --> 00:43:50,640 years um 1243 00:43:53,829 --> 00:43:52,240 this is at least you know his 1244 00:43:54,950 --> 00:43:53,839 participation and this has been an 1245 00:43:58,150 --> 00:43:54,960 ongoing 1246 00:43:59,829 --> 00:43:58,160 sort of um you know 1247 00:44:01,670 --> 00:43:59,839 like failure after failure that 1248 00:44:03,030 --> 00:44:01,680 eventually results in something that 1249 00:44:05,030 --> 00:44:03,040 works and i think that's a really 1250 00:44:07,349 --> 00:44:05,040 important message that like sometimes 1251 00:44:08,470 --> 00:44:07,359 something worth achieving takes a very 1252 00:44:12,950 --> 00:44:08,480 long time 1253 00:44:15,030 --> 00:44:12,960 um but it is worth it in the end um 1254 00:44:15,990 --> 00:44:15,040 what was something that really surprised 1255 00:44:18,550 --> 00:44:16,000 you about your 1256 00:44:19,910 --> 00:44:18,560 results kelsey was you know was ever did 1257 00:44:22,150 --> 00:44:19,920 everything go as expected 1258 00:44:26,309 --> 00:44:22,160 or were you uh kind of surprised by 1259 00:44:30,150 --> 00:44:28,790 i think working with living tissue um 1260 00:44:33,430 --> 00:44:30,160 nothing ever quite goes 1261 00:44:34,710 --> 00:44:33,440 as you expect it to it always does 1262 00:44:36,790 --> 00:44:34,720 something a little bit different than 1263 00:44:38,150 --> 00:44:36,800 you thought it was going to do 1264 00:44:40,150 --> 00:44:38,160 i think one of the things that we were 1265 00:44:41,109 --> 00:44:40,160 really really excited to see with these 1266 00:44:43,030 --> 00:44:41,119 samples 1267 00:44:44,870 --> 00:44:43,040 was the fact that they aggregated so 1268 00:44:47,190 --> 00:44:44,880 well which means that the cells 1269 00:44:47,990 --> 00:44:47,200 came and instead of being individual 1270 00:44:49,670 --> 00:44:48,000 cells 1271 00:44:51,829 --> 00:44:49,680 they really merged together into 1272 00:44:54,870 --> 00:44:51,839 something 1273 00:44:57,030 --> 00:44:54,880 moving towards an organ um where 1274 00:44:58,390 --> 00:44:57,040 it wasn't just cells in a gel it was 1275 00:44:59,589 --> 00:44:58,400 really cells coming together and 1276 00:45:03,270 --> 00:44:59,599 starting to make 1277 00:45:04,950 --> 00:45:03,280 a precursor to tissue um 1278 00:45:06,630 --> 00:45:04,960 and while we were expecting some 1279 00:45:09,349 --> 00:45:06,640 aggregation i think we saw a bit more 1280 00:45:14,309 --> 00:45:11,109 hoping for so it was it was a really 1281 00:45:18,790 --> 00:45:14,319 great thing to see 1282 00:45:20,790 --> 00:45:18,800 great that's a great problem then 1283 00:45:22,150 --> 00:45:20,800 um i think a lot of people are wondering 1284 00:45:25,349 --> 00:45:22,160 for both of you 1285 00:45:26,950 --> 00:45:25,359 how you got into this line of work i 1286 00:45:28,230 --> 00:45:26,960 think sometimes you sort of fall into it 1287 00:45:29,589 --> 00:45:28,240 sometimes it's very intentional 1288 00:45:31,510 --> 00:45:29,599 sometimes it's both 1289 00:45:33,190 --> 00:45:31,520 um starting with you dr sharma how did 1290 00:45:36,790 --> 00:45:33,200 this line of work 1291 00:45:41,190 --> 00:45:39,750 right well i've always had a passion for 1292 00:45:41,990 --> 00:45:41,200 space flight and the intersection of 1293 00:45:44,870 --> 00:45:42,000 biology 1294 00:45:46,950 --> 00:45:44,880 and um and space i actually had the good 1295 00:45:48,950 --> 00:45:46,960 fortune of growing up in huntsville 1296 00:45:50,710 --> 00:45:48,960 alabama which is just down the road from 1297 00:45:54,630 --> 00:45:50,720 the marshall space flight center 1298 00:45:55,750 --> 00:45:54,640 and i think part of it is a a pursuit of 1299 00:45:58,150 --> 00:45:55,760 the unknown 1300 00:45:59,430 --> 00:45:58,160 there's a lot we just don't know about 1301 00:46:01,750 --> 00:45:59,440 how the human body 1302 00:46:02,470 --> 00:46:01,760 is actually impacted by microgravity i 1303 00:46:05,430 --> 00:46:02,480 mean we've 1304 00:46:06,710 --> 00:46:05,440 been in space for a few decades now and 1305 00:46:09,030 --> 00:46:06,720 we have an understanding of the 1306 00:46:11,430 --> 00:46:09,040 physiological changes that happen at the 1307 00:46:12,390 --> 00:46:11,440 the body level but as a cell biologist 1308 00:46:14,309 --> 00:46:12,400 i'm really interested 1309 00:46:15,589 --> 00:46:14,319 in the cells how are the cells of the 1310 00:46:17,589 --> 00:46:15,599 human body how is 1311 00:46:19,829 --> 00:46:17,599 how are the the genetics of the body 1312 00:46:22,230 --> 00:46:19,839 impacted by extended space flight 1313 00:46:24,069 --> 00:46:22,240 and i think you know right now we're 1314 00:46:26,150 --> 00:46:24,079 kind of at a golden age when it comes to 1315 00:46:28,950 --> 00:46:26,160 utilizing the space station to 1316 00:46:30,230 --> 00:46:28,960 better understand some of these uh these 1317 00:46:32,230 --> 00:46:30,240 questions about 1318 00:46:37,670 --> 00:46:32,240 the impact of microgravity on the human 1319 00:46:44,069 --> 00:46:40,950 and what about you kelsey well for me 1320 00:46:45,109 --> 00:46:44,079 i mean i've always loved math and 1321 00:46:46,550 --> 00:46:45,119 science and how 1322 00:46:47,990 --> 00:46:46,560 if something doesn't make sense there 1323 00:46:49,829 --> 00:46:48,000 you just need to dig a little bit deeper 1324 00:46:52,069 --> 00:46:49,839 to find a foundational theorem that sort 1325 00:46:53,670 --> 00:46:52,079 of ties it all together 1326 00:46:55,589 --> 00:46:53,680 being able to take that and move it into 1327 00:46:56,790 --> 00:46:55,599 biomedical engineering was a way to 1328 00:46:59,589 --> 00:46:56,800 bring 1329 00:47:02,069 --> 00:46:59,599 that idea into something that actually 1330 00:47:04,710 --> 00:47:02,079 helped people 1331 00:47:05,670 --> 00:47:04,720 in a really primary way rather than you 1332 00:47:07,190 --> 00:47:05,680 know i mean 1333 00:47:08,870 --> 00:47:07,200 so many different technologies these 1334 00:47:11,910 --> 00:47:08,880 days help people it would be 1335 00:47:12,950 --> 00:47:11,920 crass of me to say that other groups are 1336 00:47:15,589 --> 00:47:12,960 not but 1337 00:47:15,990 --> 00:47:15,599 with biomedical engineering i can really 1338 00:47:18,630 --> 00:47:16,000 see 1339 00:47:20,630 --> 00:47:18,640 the people that i'm helping directly 1340 00:47:22,150 --> 00:47:20,640 with regards to this particular project 1341 00:47:24,069 --> 00:47:22,160 one of the reasons i came back to 1342 00:47:27,829 --> 00:47:24,079 graduate school was 1343 00:47:30,150 --> 00:47:27,839 that i really thought bioprinting was 1344 00:47:30,870 --> 00:47:30,160 one of the ways that we could scale up 1345 00:47:33,430 --> 00:47:30,880 this system 1346 00:47:35,030 --> 00:47:33,440 and actually get it to patients i'd 1347 00:47:37,030 --> 00:47:35,040 spent some time 1348 00:47:38,150 --> 00:47:37,040 doing research where we were making 1349 00:47:40,630 --> 00:47:38,160 different implants 1350 00:47:42,069 --> 00:47:40,640 by hand and that just was never going to 1351 00:47:44,710 --> 00:47:42,079 actually get to people 1352 00:47:45,910 --> 00:47:44,720 in my opinion not in a in a large scale 1353 00:47:49,030 --> 00:47:45,920 way 1354 00:47:50,630 --> 00:47:49,040 and for this particular project i 1355 00:47:53,190 --> 00:47:50,640 can't speak to how each of the other 1356 00:47:55,670 --> 00:47:53,200 team members came on board but 1357 00:47:57,750 --> 00:47:55,680 for me it was when i showed up at school 1358 00:48:00,390 --> 00:47:57,760 and said i wanted to work on bioprinting 1359 00:48:02,150 --> 00:48:00,400 dr tala had asked what system i wanted 1360 00:48:04,829 --> 00:48:02,160 to work on and i said 1361 00:48:05,990 --> 00:48:04,839 do you have an unsolvable problem i like 1362 00:48:10,390 --> 00:48:06,000 those 1363 00:48:13,510 --> 00:48:10,400 he gave me this oh my goodness 1364 00:48:15,349 --> 00:48:13,520 wow that's fantastic uh you know i think 1365 00:48:16,710 --> 00:48:15,359 we're all trying to do our part here and 1366 00:48:19,109 --> 00:48:16,720 we're all trying to do it in the best 1367 00:48:20,549 --> 00:48:19,119 way we know how um 1368 00:48:22,309 --> 00:48:20,559 here's here's a question that i think a 1369 00:48:25,109 --> 00:48:22,319 lot of people are thinking 1370 00:48:25,990 --> 00:48:25,119 um mark hochmeister sorry if i 1371 00:48:28,870 --> 00:48:26,000 pronounced your 1372 00:48:29,670 --> 00:48:28,880 name wrong on facebook says could this 1373 00:48:34,950 --> 00:48:29,680 extend 1374 00:48:37,109 --> 00:48:34,960 our lifespan 1375 00:48:40,870 --> 00:48:37,119 i think either person can maybe speak to 1376 00:48:43,349 --> 00:48:40,880 this we'll start with dr sharma first 1377 00:48:44,790 --> 00:48:43,359 sure well i think that is the dream as 1378 00:48:46,549 --> 00:48:44,800 we have talked about a lot 1379 00:48:48,150 --> 00:48:46,559 here on this segment i mean down the 1380 00:48:51,030 --> 00:48:48,160 road if we can 1381 00:48:51,589 --> 00:48:51,040 perhaps engineer replacement human 1382 00:48:54,390 --> 00:48:51,599 organs 1383 00:48:57,030 --> 00:48:54,400 outside the body then certainly that 1384 00:48:58,870 --> 00:48:57,040 could extend lifespan say if you have a 1385 00:49:00,470 --> 00:48:58,880 failing liver or a failing heart you 1386 00:49:02,069 --> 00:49:00,480 might just be able to replace it 1387 00:49:04,630 --> 00:49:02,079 entirely by growing one 1388 00:49:06,230 --> 00:49:04,640 a personalized organ outside the body so 1389 00:49:08,150 --> 00:49:06,240 this is a this challenge is a really 1390 00:49:11,270 --> 00:49:08,160 important step towards making that dream 1391 00:49:16,870 --> 00:49:14,549 i completely agree with dr sharma 1392 00:49:18,309 --> 00:49:16,880 i don't think this particular construct 1393 00:49:20,870 --> 00:49:18,319 is going to save a life 1394 00:49:21,910 --> 00:49:20,880 the way that it is but i'm really 1395 00:49:24,790 --> 00:49:21,920 excited that it's 1396 00:49:27,030 --> 00:49:24,800 you know a step towards moving to full 1397 00:49:29,030 --> 00:49:27,040 organs or potentially developing 1398 00:49:30,069 --> 00:49:29,040 new medicines and new treatment plans 1399 00:49:33,670 --> 00:49:30,079 that could help 1400 00:49:34,470 --> 00:49:33,680 with saving people so i think what we're 1401 00:49:37,109 --> 00:49:34,480 saying to mark 1402 00:49:40,630 --> 00:49:37,119 is let's get this sucker on the iss and 1403 00:49:46,069 --> 00:49:44,790 um yeah okay so i'm curious what are the 1404 00:49:48,390 --> 00:49:46,079 current limitations 1405 00:49:50,150 --> 00:49:48,400 to uh on creating new tissue and i think 1406 00:49:52,150 --> 00:49:50,160 you probably both could speak to this 1407 00:49:53,589 --> 00:49:52,160 you know like you said before this was a 1408 00:49:56,150 --> 00:49:53,599 process that took years 1409 00:49:58,230 --> 00:49:56,160 in the making what kind of pain you know 1410 00:50:01,030 --> 00:49:58,240 i can't imagine where one begins 1411 00:50:01,750 --> 00:50:01,040 um to do this sort of task but like what 1412 00:50:03,910 --> 00:50:01,760 kinds of 1413 00:50:07,670 --> 00:50:03,920 limitations exist when you're trying to 1414 00:50:10,710 --> 00:50:09,349 um well i can take a stab at that 1415 00:50:13,829 --> 00:50:10,720 question 1416 00:50:15,270 --> 00:50:13,839 there's quite a few um i think 1417 00:50:17,030 --> 00:50:15,280 the the very first one you have to start 1418 00:50:19,349 --> 00:50:17,040 with is creating an environment that the 1419 00:50:21,990 --> 00:50:19,359 cells are really going to be happy in 1420 00:50:23,349 --> 00:50:22,000 and there are so many different factors 1421 00:50:24,710 --> 00:50:23,359 that lead into that 1422 00:50:26,790 --> 00:50:24,720 different cells like different 1423 00:50:28,309 --> 00:50:26,800 stiffnesses different cells 1424 00:50:30,549 --> 00:50:28,319 like different amounts of different 1425 00:50:32,870 --> 00:50:30,559 chemicals to help stimulate them and 1426 00:50:35,990 --> 00:50:32,880 make them mature into certain ways 1427 00:50:36,630 --> 00:50:36,000 and so i mean for example in this tissue 1428 00:50:38,230 --> 00:50:36,640 we used 1429 00:50:39,829 --> 00:50:38,240 two different cell types endothelial 1430 00:50:41,750 --> 00:50:39,839 cells which make up your blood vessels 1431 00:50:43,589 --> 00:50:41,760 and hepatocytes which are the primary 1432 00:50:45,829 --> 00:50:43,599 cell found in your liver 1433 00:50:47,109 --> 00:50:45,839 and endothelial cells need very 1434 00:50:49,750 --> 00:50:47,119 different growth factors 1435 00:50:50,549 --> 00:50:49,760 than hepatocytes so we had to start 1436 00:50:53,109 --> 00:50:50,559 blending 1437 00:50:54,069 --> 00:50:53,119 different medias together to create a 1438 00:50:56,069 --> 00:50:54,079 you know substrate 1439 00:50:58,549 --> 00:50:56,079 that would feed both of them and keep 1440 00:51:00,790 --> 00:50:58,559 them both functional 1441 00:51:04,150 --> 00:51:00,800 developing a system that creates flow 1442 00:51:06,710 --> 00:51:04,160 and then as i alluded to earlier 1443 00:51:07,510 --> 00:51:06,720 your liver or really any one of your 1444 00:51:09,910 --> 00:51:07,520 organs 1445 00:51:10,549 --> 00:51:09,920 consist of billions and billions of 1446 00:51:14,870 --> 00:51:10,559 cells 1447 00:51:17,589 --> 00:51:14,880 in the lab is 1448 00:51:19,109 --> 00:51:17,599 is really difficult so being able to 1449 00:51:22,390 --> 00:51:19,119 scale up and 1450 00:51:25,430 --> 00:51:22,400 create that number of cells without 1451 00:51:28,230 --> 00:51:25,440 you know months of growth protocols 1452 00:51:30,150 --> 00:51:28,240 or a scientist like me going in and 1453 00:51:33,109 --> 00:51:30,160 feeding them every couple of days with 1454 00:51:37,109 --> 00:51:33,119 tons and tons of media is an important 1455 00:51:42,309 --> 00:51:37,119 thing that we need to overcome 1456 00:51:48,309 --> 00:51:45,990 go ahead i think um i think kelsey is 1457 00:51:51,510 --> 00:51:48,319 totally right here and in addition to 1458 00:51:53,990 --> 00:51:51,520 those issues of functionality survival 1459 00:51:55,510 --> 00:51:54,000 one thing that we're still grappling 1460 00:51:56,870 --> 00:51:55,520 with now and something that wasn't 1461 00:51:58,069 --> 00:51:56,880 really addressed at all in this 1462 00:52:00,470 --> 00:51:58,079 particular challenge 1463 00:52:01,109 --> 00:52:00,480 was appropriately integrating these 1464 00:52:04,230 --> 00:52:01,119 tissues 1465 00:52:06,870 --> 00:52:04,240 into the body so if we were to make say 1466 00:52:08,230 --> 00:52:06,880 a liver outside of the body how do we 1467 00:52:10,470 --> 00:52:08,240 ensure that once we 1468 00:52:11,990 --> 00:52:10,480 put it back into the body it's going to 1469 00:52:14,309 --> 00:52:12,000 function appropriately 1470 00:52:15,109 --> 00:52:14,319 integrate into the host's own vascular 1471 00:52:17,030 --> 00:52:15,119 network 1472 00:52:18,309 --> 00:52:17,040 and integrate with the host's immune 1473 00:52:21,430 --> 00:52:18,319 system as well 1474 00:52:22,230 --> 00:52:21,440 these are incredibly challenging issues 1475 00:52:24,309 --> 00:52:22,240 but i think 1476 00:52:28,710 --> 00:52:24,319 kelsey and your team it's you're going 1477 00:52:32,309 --> 00:52:31,030 yeah sounds like it lots of work that's 1478 00:52:35,670 --> 00:52:32,319 still ahead of you 1479 00:52:37,270 --> 00:52:35,680 but all good stuff um we're coming to a 1480 00:52:38,150 --> 00:52:37,280 close here but i want to ask a couple 1481 00:52:40,790 --> 00:52:38,160 more questions 1482 00:52:41,910 --> 00:52:40,800 um dr sharma what was the what was the 1483 00:52:43,430 --> 00:52:41,920 most important thing to you about 1484 00:52:44,630 --> 00:52:43,440 participating in this challenge we we 1485 00:52:45,670 --> 00:52:44,640 talked to you a little bit about what it 1486 00:52:47,349 --> 00:52:45,680 personally 1487 00:52:49,270 --> 00:52:47,359 meant but um you know this is something 1488 00:52:52,710 --> 00:52:49,280 that we said before you've dedicated now 1489 00:52:56,470 --> 00:52:52,720 nearly five years to um this 1490 00:53:01,030 --> 00:52:58,390 yeah it's a it's a fantastic question i 1491 00:53:02,470 --> 00:53:01,040 think i think again it comes back to 1492 00:53:03,829 --> 00:53:02,480 pushing the boundaries of science i 1493 00:53:05,829 --> 00:53:03,839 think part of the reason 1494 00:53:07,349 --> 00:53:05,839 you're interested in science you get 1495 00:53:09,750 --> 00:53:07,359 into it in the first place 1496 00:53:12,069 --> 00:53:09,760 is perhaps you want to make a benefit 1497 00:53:15,109 --> 00:53:12,079 for human health and you want to improve 1498 00:53:16,630 --> 00:53:15,119 lives down the road and to me i mean i 1499 00:53:18,230 --> 00:53:16,640 was a judge in this challenge i wasn't 1500 00:53:18,870 --> 00:53:18,240 actually participating unlike kelsey and 1501 00:53:20,950 --> 00:53:18,880 her team 1502 00:53:22,630 --> 00:53:20,960 but for me as a judge it was really 1503 00:53:24,630 --> 00:53:22,640 rewarding to see 1504 00:53:26,069 --> 00:53:24,640 the the work that kelsey and her team 1505 00:53:27,109 --> 00:53:26,079 and other teams around the country were 1506 00:53:29,030 --> 00:53:27,119 doing to help 1507 00:53:30,549 --> 00:53:29,040 perhaps you know address this unmet 1508 00:53:32,790 --> 00:53:30,559 medical need of 1509 00:53:34,870 --> 00:53:32,800 replacement human organs it's it's a 1510 00:53:36,790 --> 00:53:34,880 vision and a goal that we all want to 1511 00:53:39,030 --> 00:53:36,800 strive for in this field 1512 00:53:41,109 --> 00:53:39,040 and that's why something like this is so 1513 00:53:42,950 --> 00:53:41,119 critically important because 1514 00:53:44,390 --> 00:53:42,960 challenges like these and experiments 1515 00:53:46,630 --> 00:53:44,400 and projects like these 1516 00:53:48,390 --> 00:53:46,640 are going to make that vision a reality 1517 00:53:50,630 --> 00:53:48,400 down the road so it was 1518 00:53:53,430 --> 00:53:50,640 it was very rewarding to be a part of 1519 00:53:56,630 --> 00:53:55,349 oh i felt that one that was a great 1520 00:53:58,630 --> 00:53:56,640 answer um 1521 00:53:59,829 --> 00:53:58,640 okay so we've got we've got a very 1522 00:54:01,829 --> 00:53:59,839 practical person 1523 00:54:03,109 --> 00:54:01,839 here answer asking this question and 1524 00:54:05,990 --> 00:54:03,119 we'll just do um 1525 00:54:06,870 --> 00:54:06,000 quick answers from you both what advice 1526 00:54:09,829 --> 00:54:06,880 would you give 1527 00:54:10,390 --> 00:54:09,839 to future solvers interested in a nasa 1528 00:54:13,270 --> 00:54:10,400 challenge 1529 00:54:15,270 --> 00:54:13,280 so from both the participant side and 1530 00:54:18,950 --> 00:54:15,280 also the judge's side quick answers 1531 00:54:23,270 --> 00:54:22,309 well i would say a passion for the field 1532 00:54:25,270 --> 00:54:23,280 a passion for 1533 00:54:27,430 --> 00:54:25,280 what you're doing you don't necessarily 1534 00:54:30,950 --> 00:54:27,440 have to be directly involved 1535 00:54:33,030 --> 00:54:30,960 in space science i think being 1536 00:54:34,150 --> 00:54:33,040 passionate about engineering passion 1537 00:54:36,390 --> 00:54:34,160 about biology is 1538 00:54:37,430 --> 00:54:36,400 is critically important for success in 1539 00:54:44,470 --> 00:54:37,440 this challenge or 1540 00:54:48,630 --> 00:54:46,870 i completely agree with dr sharma 1541 00:54:50,549 --> 00:54:48,640 passion is definitely one of the most 1542 00:54:51,750 --> 00:54:50,559 important things 1543 00:54:53,589 --> 00:54:51,760 learning how to give up a little bit of 1544 00:54:55,829 --> 00:54:53,599 sleep for a while is probably also 1545 00:54:57,270 --> 00:54:55,839 pretty critical uh make sure you can get 1546 00:54:59,589 --> 00:54:57,280 all the athletes done 1547 00:55:01,990 --> 00:54:59,599 and you know get everything turned in on 1548 00:55:06,710 --> 00:55:04,829 hey that's the reason i appreciate your 1549 00:55:09,430 --> 00:55:06,720 realism 1550 00:55:10,870 --> 00:55:09,440 um well on that note that is all the 1551 00:55:12,870 --> 00:55:10,880 time we have for today 1552 00:55:15,109 --> 00:55:12,880 thank you so much to you dr sharma for 1553 00:55:17,829 --> 00:55:15,119 being here 1554 00:55:19,990 --> 00:55:17,839 thank you so much for having me and 1555 00:55:23,510 --> 00:55:20,000 congratulations again kelsey and 1556 00:55:25,910 --> 00:55:23,520 to your entire team congratulations 1557 00:55:27,030 --> 00:55:25,920 thank you so much um i'm honored to be 1558 00:55:29,190 --> 00:55:27,040 here as a representative 1559 00:55:30,470 --> 00:55:29,200 and it's certainly been you know a major 1560 00:55:33,109 --> 00:55:30,480 team effort 1561 00:55:34,950 --> 00:55:33,119 very exciting to be honored in such a 1562 00:55:38,470 --> 00:55:34,960 way 1563 00:55:40,230 --> 00:55:38,480 absolutely so today we learned all about 1564 00:55:42,390 --> 00:55:40,240 vascularized human tissue 1565 00:55:43,430 --> 00:55:42,400 the very existence of which we need to 1566 00:55:45,270 --> 00:55:43,440 survive 1567 00:55:46,710 --> 00:55:45,280 we met the very first scientists to 1568 00:55:49,589 --> 00:55:46,720 create thick functional 1569 00:55:51,510 --> 00:55:49,599 vascularized human tissue in a lab we 1570 00:55:54,549 --> 00:55:51,520 have explored the many benefits of this 1571 00:55:56,390 --> 00:55:54,559 technology both on earth and in space 1572 00:55:57,910 --> 00:55:56,400 now let's imagine the possibilities for 1573 00:55:59,349 --> 00:55:57,920 what's next 1574 00:56:01,349 --> 00:55:59,359 we're also excited to announce that the 1575 00:56:02,630 --> 00:56:01,359 judges have confirmed a second place 1576 00:56:05,430 --> 00:56:02,640 winner as well 1577 00:56:07,349 --> 00:56:05,440 team w firm also from the wake forest 1578 00:56:08,789 --> 00:56:07,359 institute of regenerative medicine has 1579 00:56:11,990 --> 00:56:08,799 taken the second place 1580 00:56:13,190 --> 00:56:12,000 prize winning 100 thousand dollars not 1581 00:56:15,510 --> 00:56:13,200 too shabby 1582 00:56:16,870 --> 00:56:15,520 so congratulations to them you can learn 1583 00:56:19,430 --> 00:56:16,880 more about team winston 1584 00:56:21,030 --> 00:56:19,440 and tmw firm technologies as well as 1585 00:56:22,230 --> 00:56:21,040 other competitors in the challenge 1586 00:56:25,670 --> 00:56:22,240 during a virtual 1587 00:56:27,910 --> 00:56:25,680 alive virtual summit coming in august 1588 00:56:29,270 --> 00:56:27,920 follow at nasa prize on twitter and 1589 00:56:32,069 --> 00:56:29,280 instagram for details 1590 00:56:34,069 --> 00:56:32,079 coming soon and the vascular tissue 1591 00:56:35,670 --> 00:56:34,079 challenge is just one of many challenges 1592 00:56:38,069 --> 00:56:35,680 going on at nasa right now 1593 00:56:39,829 --> 00:56:38,079 crowdsourcing ideas through competitions 1594 00:56:41,990 --> 00:56:39,839 is one of the many ways nasa 1595 00:56:43,589 --> 00:56:42,000 advances technologies and solves 1596 00:56:45,109 --> 00:56:43,599 difficult problems 1597 00:56:46,630 --> 00:56:45,119 some of these challenges are going or 1598 00:56:47,349 --> 00:56:46,640 some of the challenges going on right 1599 00:56:50,789 --> 00:56:47,359 now 1600 00:56:51,990 --> 00:56:50,799 are the deep space food challenge nasa 1601 00:56:54,710 --> 00:56:52,000 tech rise 1602 00:56:55,430 --> 00:56:54,720 the break the ice challenge and so much 1603 00:56:57,190 --> 00:56:55,440 more 1604 00:56:58,750 --> 00:56:57,200 see all of these opportunities for how 1605 00:57:01,670 --> 00:56:58,760 you can get involved at 1606 00:57:03,829 --> 00:57:01,680 nasa.gov backslash solve 1607 00:57:12,070 --> 00:57:03,839 for nasa science live i'm your host 1608 00:57:27,130 --> 00:57:12,080 lauren ward