This week, four astronauts slipped past the bounds of low Earth orbit and traced a path deeper into space than any humans have ever traveled, on a journey around the moon. When the crew of Artemis II returns to Earth, so too will an experiment that began at Harvard.
The project, known as AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response), was developed at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. The experiment uses “organ chips”—thumb drive-sized devices containing bone marrow grown from the astronauts’ own cells—allowing researchers to examine living human tissue in real time under deep space conditions, rather than relying solely on data collected before and after a space flight.
Each chip contains tiny channels lined with living cells that replicate the function of human bone marrow (the fatty tissue inside bones that produces blood cells and platelets). A matching set of these chips remains on Earth, providing a controlled comparison.
When the mission concludes, scientists will examine how microgravity and cosmic radiation have altered the spacefaring tissues and how those changes align with biological samples taken from the astronauts themselves. Bone marrow is one of the body’s most radiation-sensitive systems, and by observing how bone marrow responds in orbit, researchers hope to discover new clues about when and how space-induced damage occurs. This information could ultimately guide the development of targeted treatments and medications, such as antioxidants to protect astronauts against radiation sickness, and might offer improved models for biomedical advancements for non-space related diseases, from cancer treatments to pharmaceuticals and drug toxicity testing.
Historically, the logistical limitations of taking scientific samples during space missions and the short duration of most missions have constrained the study of human health in space. The AVATAR organ chips can be multiplied, standardized, and tailored, which represents a research advantage.
AVATAR is led by NASA in collaboration with federal partners, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Space Tango, a private company, developed the automated flight hardware using organ chips manufactured by Emulate, Inc. (also private), with Wyss scientist David Chou leading the research teams. The project is supported in part by federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Wyss founding director and AVATAR principal investigator Donald Ingber, who is also the Folkman professor of vascular biology at the University, who guides and consults on the biology undelying the experiment. Ingber has been involved in other projects related to organ-on-chip research at the Wyss Institute.
“This technology could be game-changing for NASA, and for medicine on Earth,” said Lisa Carnell, the director of the biological and physical sciences division at NASA. “It could enable us to personalize medical kits for astronauts on future deep-space missions, as well as impact patient care right here on Earth.”
The implications of AVATAR’s findings extend past this flight. Artemis II, launched on April 1 and scheduled to return on April 10, is being used to gather information and test technologies for more ambitious journeys—including sustained lunar presence, and ultimately, a future journey to Mars.
