Our current area of study - in a nut shell

Human muscle chip in microgravity investigation uses Micro-gRx’s clear polymer chips to create three-dimensional microscale models of muscle fibers from human cells taken from muscle biopsies of different populations of adults.

The research, led by Siobhan Malany Ph.D and Senior Scientist Shelby Giza at the University of Florida (UF) in collaboration with researchers in the biomedical engineering department at UF and at Advent Health, explores how the space environment accelerates muscle weakness in astronauts and how the effects of microgravity on muscle biology and physiology can help us understand human health and disease on Earth. The ultimate goal of our study is to use the muscle tissue chips to test for improved human response to medicines that may counter muscle decline and disease and reduce reliance on animal studies.