Sometimes,distance can lend a new perspective to a problem. For Japanese researchers studying protein crystal growth, that distance was 250 miles up—the altitude at which the International Space Station (ISS) orbits the soil. To better isolate the growth of protein crystals from the effects of gravity, and the group of Katsuo Tsukamoto in Tohoku University's Department of soil and Planetary Science in Sendai,Japan, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency grew crystals in a specially-designed chamber onboard the ISS.
Source: phys.org