Press release, February 26, 2026
Space missions pose unique challenges to the human body: microgravity and increased radiation exposure alter fundamental biological processes, particularly in immune, nerve, and muscle cells. Against the backdrop of the federal government’s Hightech Agenda and the Science Year 2026 – Medicine of the Future, a project at TU Dresden is now bringing into focus how space biology can drive medical innovation. The ILLUMINATE research project, which is part of the Cellbox program of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), is investigating how liver tissue reacts to microgravity and cosmic radiation. For the first time, mouse liver organoids – lab‑grown mini models of the liver – are being examined under both real and simulated space conditions.
