Drugs in space

The absence of gravity makes it easier to cultivate the proteins needed to study diseases. And although the associated costs are high, big pharma is stepping in

- David Cox

In a small lab, squeezed into the corner of a skyscraper in downtown Tel Aviv, Yossi Yamin is proudly holding what he calls "a little James Bond-style suitcase factory, powered by the sun".

As with many of 007's finest contraptions, initial impressions are inauspicious. But in the past four years, these little metal boxes, coated in solar panels, have repeatedly blasted into orbit on the back of a SpaceX rocket, bringing groundbreaking insights ranging from the behaviour of leukaemia cells to the best ways of generating lab-grown steak back to Earth.

As chief executive of SpacePharma - a company that works with clients around the world, from children's hospitals to big pharma - Yamin has helped to pioneer a new industry. Using technology developed at the Technion, Israel's oldest university, increasing numbers of biologists are able to miniaturise their experiments and send them to the International Space Station (ISS), where they can be remotely controlled from the ground.

"This is not science fiction any more," says Yamin. "Last year, we accomplished seven in-orbit experiments, and the number is growing. Next month, we are flying five experiments into space in realms ranging from the future of skincare to longevity drugs and brain diseases."

The idea of leaving Earth to further medicine goes back to the dawn of the space age. Needing a way of justifying the enormous cost of launching as many as 50 flights a year, Nasa suggested that its astronauts could multitask, using their time in orbit to pursue a cure for cancer or the many other illnesses afflicting humankind.