Space Station Bioprinting Breakthrough: Human Liver and Kidney Tissues Manufactured in Orbit for the First Time
Key Insights
Auxilium Biotechnologies (search) successfully bioprinted human liver, kidney, and cartilage tissues aboard the International Space Station (search) in June, marking a first for these tissue types in space.
The microgravity environment enabled uniform cell distribution unattainable on Earth, overcoming a key obstacle in three-dimensional tissue engineering.
The mission also produced 28 nerve repair implants, demonstrating the versatility and scalability of the company's AMP-1 bioprinter platform.
A San Diego-based biotechnology company has achieved what it describes as a milestone in regenerative medicine: the first successful bioprinting of human liver and kidney tissues in space. Auxilium Biotechnologies (search) announced that its AMP-1 3D bioprinter (search), operating aboard the International Space Station (search) (ISS) in June, manufactured structures containing liver, kidney, and cartilage cells, along with 28 nerve repair implants. The bioprinted materials returned to Earth on a SpaceX (search) Dragon cargo capsule that splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on June 17.
The experiments directly addressed a persistent challenge in tissue engineering on Earth: controlling the precise spatial distribution of cells within three-dimensional constructs. Under normal gravity, certain cell types tend to settle unevenly—akin to blueberries sinking in muffin batter—compromising tissue function. In organs, cells occupy highly specific locations, and Earth-based methods have yet to give researchers complete control over this organization.
"In microgravity, that becomes possible," said Auxilium co-founder and CEO Jacob Koffler, who is also affiliated with the University of California, San Diego.
Overcoming Gravity's Constraints
Auxilium originally sent its 3D bioprinter to the space station in 2024 with a more focused objective: improving the company's nerve-repair implants, versions of which are already in clinical trials. The goal was to distribute drug-containing particles evenly throughout those implants so that regenerating nerves would receive continuous exposure to healing compounds. Because drug particles sink under gravity, the microgravity environment of the ISS offered a pathway to more uniform distribution and placement.
In the latest mission, the company expanded its ambitions, sending bio-inks to space that would broaden the printer's capabilities to tissue printing. Watching from Earth via cameras on the ISS, Koffler's team was able to upload new instructions to the printer as necessary, demonstrating real-time remote operation.
"The uniform cell distribution achieved aboard the space station points to real possibilities for manufacturing medical devices and tissues in space," said Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (search) (WFIRM), whose team provided the liver and kidney cells used in the experiments.
Versatility Across Tissue Types
Auxilium emphasized that the AMP-1 bioprinter is the first tool to produce multiple tissue types in space, as well as the first to manufacture kidney and liver tissue in orbit. "The ability to manufacture multiple tissue types alongside clinically relevant medical products highlights both the versatility and scalability of our technology," Koffler said.
Isac Lazarovits, Auxilium's engineering vice president, underscored the operational significance: "Demonstrating multiple product classes and meaningful production volume within a single mission is an important milestone as we continue advancing toward routine manufacturing operations in orbit."
The achievement builds on earlier bioprinting experiments conducted on the ISS. In 2018, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko tested a machine called the "Bioprinter Organ.Aut," which assembled cartilage cells using a magnetic field. Auxilium's work, however, represents a substantial expansion in both the range of tissue types and the production volume achieved in a single mission.
From Tissue Patches to Organs: A Measured Trajectory
The printed structures are not functioning organs, and Koffler cautioned that the field will likely focus first on smaller tissue patches that could help repair damaged organs, such as the liver, before attempting to create entire replacement organs through bioprinting.
The work also highlights growing commercial interest in orbital manufacturing as NASA prepares for the eventual retirement of the ISS. Auxilium has signed agreements with companies developing commercial space stations and other orbital platforms intended to succeed the ISS, Koffler noted.
Regulatory frameworks for space-manufactured medical products are only beginning to emerge. Koffler disclosed that he had participated in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (search) workshop on space biomanufacturing earlier this year. "It's going to take some years until we get to the clinic," he said. "But it's important to start building that framework now."
"This mission marks an exciting step forward for in-space biomanufacturing and demonstrates what can be achieved when innovative technology is paired with strong collaboration," Lazarovits added.