Alper Gezeravcı will conduct 13 different scientific experiments at the International Space Station for 14 days, including the "Message" scientific mission led by Üsküdar Üniversitesi TRGENMER Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan and his team members Gamze Gülden, Berranur Sert, Büşra Tekirdağlı, Berranur Sert, Ebru Çam, Özge Demir, Fatmanur Erkek.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Transgenic Cell Technologies Application and Research Center (TRGENMER) Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan stated, “We are very excited; we are children who grew up with science fiction movies since childhood. Especially when a shuttle went into space, we always watched other countries applaud. Now, for the first time, our own astronaut is taking indigenous scientific missions produced by Turkish scientists from Turkey into space.” Taştan added that in order to carry out such a study, Alper Gezeravcı, a fighter pilot, became a very good Biologist before becoming an astronaut.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan: “Our project will actually not be completed but will have just begun within the 14-day period that will take place in space.”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (MDBF) Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics faculty member, Transgenic Cell Technologies Application and Research Center (TRGENMER) Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan, provided information about the space journey and work to be carried out by the first Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı.
Indigenous scientific missions produced by Turkish scientists from Turkey in space
“As one of these space missions, we at Üsküdar Üniversitesi are among the scientists who have been developing cancer treatments and working for years. In this context, how astronauts' genetic expressions might change in a microgravity environment during long space travels, especially for establishing colonies in Space, on Mars, or on the Moon, has not been discovered yet. For the first time in the world, such a study will be conducted, shedding light on both Genetic Engineering and cancer treatments, which we call cancer immunotherapy.”
Alper Gezeravcı became a very good Biologist before becoming an astronaut
TRGENMER Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan noted that Alper Gezeravcı, a fighter pilot, became a very good Biologist before becoming an astronaut to carry out such a study, and said, “He visited both our university and many universities and institutions within the scope of 13 scientific missions. We held many meetings worldwide for approximately 12 months. We evaluated these meetings with experts from NASA and AXIOM when appropriate, obtained all our experimental approvals, and Alper Gezeravcı was also able to simulate these experiments one-on-one in our laboratories.”
We are with him in spirit, mind, and prayers
TRGENMER Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan also stated that they would follow the genetic profiles of both Alper Gezeravcı and the other astronauts who accompanied him during these 14 days, saying, “With these genetic analyses, we aim to find previously undiscovered genes that will be activated in a microgravity environment for the selection of the right astronauts in future space missions, and to introduce this to the space and scientific world literature. Of course, this might pave the way for scientific discoveries that could even lead to cancer patients being treated in space tourism in the future. We want to add value to both Turkey's space mission and the world's space mission, and within this scope, every step Alper Gezeravcı takes, every experiment he conducts, and even every breath he takes during these 14 days, has been meticulously planned. Therefore, we are with him in spirit, in mind, and in our prayers.”
Taştan: “We will conduct our genetic screenings in the coming months.”
TRGENMER Director Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan, who also provided information about their missions, concluded his words as follows:
“Actually, our ‘message’ science mission has already begun. As Alper Gezeravcı entered quarantine, we started collecting samples from our astronauts to obtain their genetic profiles. Our project will actually not be completed but will have just begun within the 14-day period that will take place in space. Following this, we will conduct our genetic screenings in the coming months.
Using genetic engineering techniques that have won Nobel prizes in recent years, such as CRISPR, we will again modify the genetics of our astronaut's and other people's immune system cells, and this time, we will make these genes discovered in space fight against cancer. In future space missions, we plan to re-test these cells and cancer screenings in space and introduce new treatment methods to the world literature.”