Rotary_Cell_Culture_System
The Rotary Cell Culture System (RCCS) is a device designed to grow three-dimensional cell clusters in microgravity. In the early 1990s, NASA researchers began developing hardware that would let them study the cell tissues of mammals—including humans—in microgravity. They also needed it to protect the fragile cultures from the turbulence of Space Shuttle launch and landing. The resulting device enables the growth of tissue, cancer tumors and virus cultures outside the body, both in space and on Earth.
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The cell culture bioreactor—known commercially as the Rotary Cell Culture System (RCCS) -- boasts several advantages that exceed typical laboratory methods. Lab-grown cell cultures tend to be small, flat and two-dimensional, unlike normal cultures. But tissues grown in the RCCS are larger and three-dimensional, with structural and chemical characteristics similar to normal tissue. Additionally, the RCCS has no internal moving parts, therefore minimizing any forces that might damage the delicate cell cultures.