"The humans who will be our deep space pioneers are our most important resource on the journey to Mars and beyond," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA.
The results of the competition will help study health risks during long missions in space and minimize negative effects of deep space travel on future astronauts.
Skin tissue cells accomplish important functions in human body, while blood vessels provide tissue with nutritional substances needed to keep it healthy. Scientists plan to use the vascularized model of thick conjunctive tissue produced in the contest as organ-substitutes or samples for studying the influence of the space, including radiation.
The research is also hoped to improve healthcare on Earth. The vascularized model can be used in pharmaceutical tests or to prompt development in organ transplants.
Some note that creating artificial tissue could be the first step toward manufacturing body parts and thence to human cloning.
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