Printing knowledge in microgravity: PULSE and the education needed for space biomedicine

Humanity can travel only as far as physiology allows. The history of exploration is often narrated through machines: the vessel, the aircraft, the launch vehicle and, increasingly, the autonomous laboratory. Yet, every technological frontier is also a physiological experiment. When the human body is removed from the terrestrial conditions in which it evolved, familiar systems are asked unfamiliar questions. Microgravity alters mechanical loading, fluid distribution and cellular organisation; radiation can damage DNA and remodel inflammatory and metabolic responses; confinement, disrupted circadian timing and operational stress add further layers of biological and psychological complexity. These influences interact across scales rather than acting as isolated hazards (Afshinnekoo et al., 2020; Bailey et al., 2025).