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Astronauts to test USF students' wound research
Four University of South Florida (USF) undergraduates and their mentors developed a hydrogel experiment that’s headed to the International Space Station. FOX 13"s Ariel Plasencia reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Four University of South Florida (USF) undergraduates and their mentors developed a hydrogel experiment that’s headed to the International Space Station.
Astronauts can use hydrogel to help cuts and wounds heal – even underneath their space suits.
Seniors Jaiden Brick and Krystal Walford and sophomores Jade Fei and Hannah Kirschenmann developed this antimicrobial and biodegradable hydrogel as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), Mission 21 Student Team.
The hydrogel experiment
The backstory:
The students are using what they call "mini-labs" -- small tubes divided into three distinct compartments.
One chamber holds a fully formed hydrogel, serving as the Earth-controlled sample. The other two chambers hold the separated ingredients that make hydrogel.
Once in space at the International Space Station, astronauts will shake up the mini labs, combining the ingredients in those two chambers in microgravity conditions.
Two of those mini-labs are scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX Mission 21 on Oct. 13.
"It's crazy. I feel like I'll joke about it a lot with my friends like, 'Oh, my research is going to space,' but with it coming up in days, it doesn't feel real," said Brick. "I feel like I'm closing out my time in college with something super amazing, and I'm just really proud to be part of this team."
What's next:
Upon returning from space, the two mini-labs will eventually make their way back to USF's Advanced Membrane and Materials Bio and Integration Research (AMBIR) Lab in Tampa.
The team will then compare the space-formed hydrogel with the Earth-formed hydrogel to see exactly how the medicine formed and came together under those gravity conditions
"We're actually hoping (the space-formed hydrogel) has better properties because if we can use microgravity to generate a medical therapy that is enhanced over what we do on Earth, we could use similar technology on Earth to make better products," Eva Fernandez, a graduate student and project mentor for SSEP, Mission 21.
Dig deeper:
The undergrad students are supported by several mentors, including:
- Sylvia Wilson Thomas, Ph.D., P.I.
- Eva Fernandez, Ph.D. Student, Medical Engineering
- Ridita Khan, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering
- Tuhin Bhattacharjee, Ph.D. Student, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Saundra Johnson Austin, Ed.D.
The Source: