The overlap between the space and longevity industries
As the nascent space sector takes off, commercialization and space tourism are expected to grow increasingly prominent. To prepare for long-term spaceflight, we need to better understand how the human body responds to unusual environments encountered during space travel. The answer to solving these problems may lie at the intersection between space medicine and human medicine-specifically, longevity-back here on Earth.
The challenges and new opportunities for scientific research into aging and longevity in space are moving closer to becoming practical applications.
Space medicine is a core competency for any human to explore, develop. and, ultimately, live permanently in space. Over the past half century, space health advancements have trickled down to benefit everyday life on Earth. Examples of these innovations include laser angioplasty, voice-controlled wheelchairs, programmable pacemakers, digital imaging biopsy systems, and LED imaging to assist in brain cancer surgery.
Often, research conducted in space that is critical for professional astronauts and, eventually, space tourists to thrive overlaps with longevity research conducted on Earth. Space exploration and the development of a longer, healthy human lifespan is essential to our success when traveling among the stars. The challenges and new opportunities for scientific research into aging and longevity in space are moving closer to becoming practical applications.
Longevity technology
Longevity technologies have come a long way since humans first started exploring space. A Bank of America-Merrill Lynch report predicted that the human longevity market alone will exceed $600 billion in 2025 and coined it “techmanity.” Thus far, longevity technologies like nano-cosmeceuticals, tissue rejuvenation, genomics, AI and big data are all helping to support human longevity. Some research put forth the notion that we could possibly extend the average human lifespan to 120 years.
Earth-based developments have already demonstrated their importance in our quest to understand how humans can survive and thrive in space. Many experts still question whether a three-year roundtrip journey to Mars would be ethically permissible, given our current understanding of human physiology in space and the medical countermeasures to keep the crew healthy in space. Currently, research into astronaut health and human longevity are underway on the International Space Station to find solutions.
When longer trips across our solar system-and perhaps beyond-are contemplated, the lack of adequate biomedical knowledge to assure crew health is clearly lacking. Humans will be far from Earth, in remote and hazardous locations with limited resources. Help from home will not be possible. As is the case with any expedition, they will need to have a boost in overall health maintenance capabilities on board. As missions start to become longer, longevity research will assume a dominant role.
Among the health innovations developed in space to counteract poor health and aging, 3D bioprinting has become a hugely reliable tool. Already on Earth, a variety of technologies are being developed wherein a patient’s cells can be reprogrammed to adopt different functions and then be used to build functional copies of natural tissues and organs. Having fully functional versions of these technologies would greatly enhance the ability to keep crews safe and, in so doing, enhance longevity. Again, such research is already underway in the microgravity conditions encountered on the ISS.
Many experts still question whether a three-year roundtrip journey to Mars would be ethically permissible, given our current understanding of human physiology in space and the medical countermeasures to keep the crew healthy in space.
Recently, NASA, along with the Department of Health and Human Services Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the FDA, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced a multi-agency effort to extend the lifespan of 3D tissue chips up to six months. According to NASA, the goal of the collaboration is to thoroughly understand the disease models, drug development, exposures to chemical and environmental factors, and physiological changes due to the space environment and clinical trial design.
On Earth, the normal aging process involves skin deterioration. Microgravity also often causes various changes to the human body, many of which are similar to the typical aging process on Earth. However, they tend to occur much quicker in microgravity than on Earth. Colgate Skin Aging effectively implements a 3D model of engineered human skin cells to examine the molecular and cellular changes that occur during space flight. Thanks to this research, innovative models may be available to prevent some aging processes from occurring. The study could also help better protect humans from other aging-related problems in wound healing products.
Partnering longevity research with space science
Currently, 55% percent of space medical research is supported by commercial funding. The US is the leader in private space health research. Partnerships between private companies and research aboard the ISS have been increasing. One such partnership involves NASA and The Michael J. Fox Foundation and supports research to determine the structure of the LRRK2 gene through protein crystals developed in space. AngieX is another longevity company developing therapies to target tumor cells and blood vessels in space. Biogen Inc, Eli Lilly, Merck, and 490 Biotech are also advancing space-based life science research.
Major universities and organizations also support studies in longevity-related areas such as biomarkers, radioprotectors, gene therapy and hibernation research. For example, the University of London and the University of Copenhagen are among the many working on gene therapy data. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Sydney, and the University of Lyon are conducting research into radioprotectors.
Integrating advancements from both industries, SP8CEVC, in partnership with AngelList, is an innovative new rolling fund creating progress in both space technology and human longevity. Their goal is to combine space and longevity advancements to ultimately support the other. Within the space sector, the goal is to focus on space infrastructure and other assets in over 20 sub-verticals. Longevity-based investments focus on organizations that address nine hallmarks of biomarkers, aging and diagnostics.
The absence of a strong gravity field’s impact upon a variety of chemical and biological processes has yielded insights that we’d have never seen if we did not start to ask “what if?” in space.
“Space is going to create goods, services, and jobs that will change humanity and our planet for the better,” according to SP8CEVC’s co-founder and Longevity Lead, Junaid Mian, RPh. “However, it’s going to take time to build out this infrastructure. And not only that, as people start to go up to work instead of across to work, space rapidly ages people, and we need to find a way to mitigate that. So we also need to increase healthy human lifespan.”
As has already been demonstrated, Earth- and space-based research activities benefit one another synergistically. Space utilization provides a totally unique environment unavailable on Earth’s surface. The absence of a strong gravity field’s impact upon a variety of chemical and biological processes has yielded insights that we’d have never seen if we did not start to ask “what if?” in space. The collaborations we have seen developing involve all sectors of the biomedical and chemistry sectors. Together they are working to create healthy habitats and medical support for humans on this world and others.
Human longevity advancements on the future horizon of the space economy should not be understated. People need to live and work in space for weeks and months to thrive and perform their experiments for years and, ultimately, decades. The exploration of space is a multigenerational endeavor and we need to start approaching it with human longevity in mind.
Creating newer space stations that build upon decades of prior space station operations will allow greater strides to be made in human health and longevity in space. When we further innovate human longevity science in space, these advancements will continue to trickle down to Earth. Ultimately, we can create an increasingly healthier and more stable society everywhere. Learning how to explore the most distant reaches of space can help us live healthier lives back here on the home planet.
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Originally published at https://www.thespacereview.com on July 1, 2024.
About Dylan Taylor
Dylan Taylor is a global business leader, commercial astronaut, thought leader and philanthropist. Currently, Dylan serves as Chairman & CEO of Voyager Space, a multi-national space exploration firm focused on building the next generation of space infrastructure for NASA and other global space agencies.
Dylan has been recognized by Harvard University, SpaceNews, the BBC, the Financial Times, Pitchbook,CNBC, CNN and others as having played a seminal role in the growth of the private space industry. As an early-stage investor in more than 50 emerging space ventures, including Axiom, Kepler, York, Astrobotic, LeoLabs, Relativity, and Planet, Dylan is widely considered the most active private space investor in the world.
Dylan’s technical background, global business experience and unbridled passion for space make him a unique figure within his industry. As a thought leader and futurist, he has written many popular pieces on the future of the space industry for Forbes, FastCompany, Newsweek, SpaceNews, The Space Review, and Space.com. As a speaker, Dylan has keynoted many of the major space conferences around the world and has appeared regularly on Bloomberg, Fox Business, and CNBC.
Dylan has extensive global business experience as both a board director and CEO in several industries, including advanced electronics, finance and real estate. He previously served as a Director for UMB Bank, a Fortune 500 company based in Kansas City and as a mutual fund director for the Jackson Funds where he oversaw assets of $8B across 130 distinct funds. He has also served in the roles of CEO, President and Board Director for multinational companies like Prudential PLC, Honeywell, Colliers and Jones Lang LaSalle. Dylan was recognized as a Fortune 1000 CEO with P&L responsibility in excess of $3B and operations encompassing 15,000 employees in over 60 countries. In addition, Dylan has participated in 4 IPOs over the course of his career.
Dylan is a leading advocate of space manufacturing and the utilization of in-space resources to further space exploration and settlement. In 2017, he became the first private citizen to manufacture an item in space when the gravity meter he co-designed and commissioned was 3D printed on the International Space Station. The historic item is now housed in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Dylan is an explorer of note. On December 11th, 2021 Dylan became just the 606th human to go to space as part of the crew of Blue Origin’s NewShepard Mission 19. Accordingly, Dylan earned his commercial astronaut wings with the FAA and his universal astronaut wings from the Association of Space Explorers.
He is also one of only a handful of humans to have descended to the deepest part of the world’s oceans, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench as part of the Limiting Factor Expedition in July of 2022. In that mission, Dylan descended with pilot Victor Vescovo to a depth in excess of 10,800 meters (35,500 feet) into an area of the Mariana Trench that had never been visited by humans. Dylan is the youngest human to have been to the deepest part of the world’s oceans and crossed the Karman line into Space. Dylan has been a member of the Explorers Club since 2014.
Dylan maintains an extensive philanthropic impact on the space industry. In 2017, Dylan founded the nonprofit and social movement, Space for Humanity, which seeks to democratize space exploration and develop solutions to global issues through the scope of human awareness to help solve the world’s most intractable problems. Space for Humanity has successfully sent two citizen astronauts to space via Blue Origin including both the first Mexican-born woman (Katya Echazareta), and first African-born woman (Sara Sabry). Building upon his passion and support for the space industry, Dylan serves as a strategic advisor for both the Archmission and the Human Spaceflight Program and is a co-founding patron of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, which promotes the growth of commercial space activity. Additionally, he is also a leading benefactor to the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Patti Grace Smith Fellowship and Mission: Astro Access.
Dylan is the founder and Chairman of Multiverse Media, an integrated global media company focused on science and technology, with an emphasis on space. Multiverse is the parent company of the popular space philosophy website 2211.world as well as the Ad Astra Dinners, a Jeffersonian-style dinner series featuring some of the world’s leading influencers discussing the future of humanity in space. Another subsidiary of Multiverse Media, Multiverse Publishing, publishes books by leading authors including Frank White, Isaac Asimov and Gerard K. O’Neill. Multiverse is also the executive producer of the documentary film, The High Frontier and the forthcoming film, Fortitude.
For his influence as a global leader and his commitment to creating a positive impact on the world, Dylan has been honored with numerous personal and professional accolades in recent years. The World Economic Forum recognized Dylan as a Young Global Leader in 2011 and a full member of the World Economic Forum in 2014. That same year he was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. In 2020, Dylan was recognized by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation with their top honor for business and finance, following in the footsteps of 2019’s inaugural winner, the late Paul Allen
and subsequent winners Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
Dylan Taylor earned an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Booth School of Business at University of Chicago and holds a BS in Engineering from the honors college at the University of Arizona, where he graduated Tau Beta Pi and in 2018 was named Alumnus of the year. He is also a graduate of the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century program at Harvard University.
Dylan and his family reside in Denver, Colorado where he is active locally with Colorado Concern and theColorado Spaceport. In his spare time, Dylan enjoys hiking, competing in triathlons and spending time outdoors. As a weekend warrior athlete, Dylan has more than 25 top ten finishes and 25 age group wins to his credit, and he regularly interviews world class athletes whom have shown extraordinary resilience as the host of the Legendary Podcast. He is married to legal expert, consultant and author Gabrielle V. Taylor with whom he has two teenage daughters.
