icrogravity research performed aboard NASA's Space Shuttles could help prevent influenza. It could also increase the supply of potatoes for McDonald's french fries.

"Protein crystals grown in space have resulted in a drug currently being tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that will control the spread of influenza in humans," Ed Gabris, director of NASA's Space Processing Division, said on January 27. "The protein was actually being grown on Earth, but the space flight opportunity provided a way to grow it faster and to accelerate the development of the drug," Gabris said. If clinical trials are successful, the drug is expected to be on the market in 2004.

McDonald's Corporation, one of the world's largest consumers of potatoes, also is collaborating with NASA microgravity researchers to find a way to enhance the ability for potatoes to withstand extreme frost and high winds.

Source: Space News (February 1997)