The experiment, in which coronavirus protein crystals will be grown using a 3D bioprinter, will take place within about eight days
MOSCOW, February 28. /tass/. Coronavirus proteins, as part of an experiment to study them, will be sent to the ISS for the first time on the Soyuz MS-21 manned spacecraft on March 18. This was reported to TASS by the managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Youssef Hesuani.
"It will be a series of experiments. On March 18, we plan to send the so-called nucleocapsid protein of the coronavirus, this will be the first shipment for us as part of a series of experiments," Hesuani said.
According to him, the first experiment, in which coronavirus protein crystals will be grown using a 3D bioprinter, will take place within about eight days. After that, the samples will be returned to Earth, where they will be studied for 1-1.5 months. Another shipment, Hesuani said, is planned during the autumn manned launch, an intermediate one can be organized in the summer on a transport cargo ship.
Tests are currently underway in the company's laboratory. "In a week we will be planning to send the first samples to Baikonur so that they are ready for flight," he added.
Hesuani stressed that the experiment will be safe for the crew members, since it is not the virus itself that will go into orbit, but a part of it. "By itself, it [part of the virus] cannot penetrate the astronauts' body, even if they somehow miraculously inhale it, which is also impossible, because we send it in special cuvettes with three protection circuits. There are certain requirements for working with biological material on the ISS. We have already tested them many times," Hesuani added.
Earlier, in the presentation of the Director General of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, it was reported that research is planned for 2022 as part of the development of antiviral drugs. The head of the state corporation clarified that we are talking about drugs against coronavirus infection. The materials specified that large-sized coronavirus proteins, including RBD, the protein responsible for attaching the coronavirus to human cells, would be grown on the ISS using a 3D bioprinter. The obtained samples will be used to decipher the structure of the protein and study the mechanisms of introduction of viruses into the human body.
